On behalf of Guerilla Traffic, ANOTHER reason to despise 50 Cent
 

Rapper 50 Cent says Taco Bell stole his endorsement

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. rapper and hip-hop mogul 50 Cent sued Taco Bell on Wednesday, saying the restaurant chain made him the star of its hip-hop themed ad campaign without his permission and without paying him a fee.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, accused the Mexican-style fast food chain of "diluting the value of his good name" (as fucking is THAT is possible) ; and employing a guerrilla advertising campaign to fool consumers into thinking he had endorsed the chain, said the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court.

"Without seeking or obtaining Jackson's authorization, defendant Taco Bell made him the star and focus of its nationwide advertising campaign by using his name, persona and trademark to promote Taco Bell's business and products," court papers said.

The lawsuit accuses the chain of disseminating a letter, addressed to 50 Cent, that encourages the rapper to change his name to "79 Cent," "89 Cent" or "99 Cent."

The letter was designed to promote the company's "79-89-99 Cent Why Pay More" campaign, while avoiding the multimillion-dollar fee the rapper might have charged to use his name, the lawsuit said.

Rob Poetsch, a spokesman for Taco Bell Corp, said, "We made a good faith, charitable offer to 50 Cent to change his name to either 79, 89, or 99 Cent for one day by rapping his order at a Taco Bell, and we would have been very pleased to make the $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice." Taco Bell is operated by Yum! Brands.

The lawsuit said the Taco Bell letter was eventually sent to the rapper, but only after it had been circulated to reporters.

"As Taco Bell intended, many customers believed that 50 Cent had agreed to endorse Taco Bell's products. Indeed, postings on numerous Internet 'blogs' castigated 50 Cent for 'selling out' by his apparent endorsement of Taco Bell," the lawsuit said.

Since his debut album in 2003, 50 Cent has built a business with a record label, a clothing and footwear line, ringtones and video games. He has also starred in a movie based on his life, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'."

Reuters/Nielsen

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/0...ent_lawsuit_dc

Some kid fresh out of Urban Marketing Univ is getting fired today.

Play with the bull, you'll get the horns

Why hate on 50 cent, Taco bell fucked up it seems

hahah thats for sure. i cant believe that some of these higher ups in the company would of let that fly knowing it would of caused some damage

Cliff notes???

Good question.

Good for him, that's ridiculous what Taco Bell did.

god thats funny....i would love to see 50 in a taco bell commercial....

Seems pretty straight forward to me. Taco Bell shouldn't have done it. I still don't like 50 cent.

Damage? Seems like they're getting quite a bit of publicity from it. Seems to me like they know exactly what they're doing.

I dont like 50 cent but hes right in this case.

Marketing wise, this is a very bad publicity stunt. It will for sure hurt Taco Bell.

As an Example, Subway Foods has done some pretty stupid things, pretty giving the sub title to Quiznos because of stupid stunts like this. Even a legit mistake, like Subway excluding home school kids from a "school athletics program donations" hurt them in the pocket book.

So, Taco bell playing 50 cent out, making it look like he sold out, will piss off a serious amount of people, and those people won't buy Taco bell because of it.

50 Cent is in the right

I don't see a problem at all with what they did, to be honest.

They didn't say he endorsed them, they said they made him an offer.

How many sales to have Guerilla crew make me a CANDY SHOP video?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=z6iwQnXvPbw
Tony would be the main star then you & G

Now I get it, it's fo the bitches, yo, I mean oy, I mena yo....

Hi Marina

Oy is right


:)

50 cent. Hrm. looks like someone did not pay attention in school.

he forgot the S.

I know you're being funny. He actually took that name from a Brooklyn stick-up kid. You know how most rappers take mafia names, he chose someone within his bracket.

I hate his ugly ass!

Haha lol nice. Imagine all the PR Taco Bell is getting because 50 Cent is trying to sue them. Great move Taco Bell! :thumbsup

maybe 50 does not want the taco bell deal. maybe he does not like the food. so they use his name for publicity without his consent-- does not sound fair to me.

I respectfully disagree. There is no such thing as bad publicity (well maybe unless you're Fionna Apple) ... and Quizno's just has a better product. :winkwink:

I like Quiznos more, but that's because I had a prego wife that liked Subway :/

You can have bad press in the food business, for sure. A marketing blunder. What I stated came from massive marketing research done by several groups of people. Subway, just happens to be one of several examples.

Some people love 50 cent, some think they are part of him, his group/message, his life. If he gets pissed at someone, they get pissed at someone, it's a major word of mouth effect that goes through entire groups/communities, ect - faster than viral marketing.

Major marketing blunders have shown this be a fact, and it hurts the business every time.

yum brands > 50 cent.

its called viral marketing / pr stunt.

fuck 50 cent