Product Liability

A few weeks ago, the BLT highlighted Coke's "viral marketing" gag in which the company duped its own in-house lawyers about a mock lawsuit for "taste infringement."

But the Coca-Cola Co. apparently has less of a sense of humor about, well, Jesus.

Here is an article from Variety about the company's legal action against the makers of an independent film that portrayed Jesus drinking a Coke in the desert. As the article states:

In the desert, near the biblical Emmaus, the Italo ad man gives Jesus a ride on his Jeep, hands him a Coke, and, while Jesus is quenching his thirst, says: "My God, what a testimonial!"

Coca Cola in a letter complained to producers Graziano Prota and Angelo Sconda demanding that the scene be cut because it is likely to give Coca Cola a negative image and complaining that use of their brand was unauthorized.

"We are not interested in this kind of product placement," a Coca Cola Italia spokeswoman said.

One kind of product placement Coke is, of course, interested in is its successful sponsorship of American Idol. But given the furor over Idol survivor Sanjaya, perhaps that's just another form of blasphemy.

Comments

[salvatore]

The "7 km from Jerusalem" affaire seems to be happly concluded and for the best:
The film directed by Claudio Malaponti, was in the past weeks the cause of a controversy with Coca-Cola because of a scene where Milan offers a can of Coca-Cola to Jesus Christ and it exclaims: "God, what a testimonial!"
The producers of the film, Graziano Prota and Angelo Sconda ,in order to respect and comply to the will of the Coca-Cola Corporation that had prevented the film directed from Claudio Malaponti to arrive on the screen by Easter Sunday(APRILthe 6th), they declare that on the 6th of april they had received a communication from Coca-Cola Italy in which they asserted they had realized that the rappresentation of their brand in the scene was a creative and artistic need of the director to use a universal symbol that was contemporary, adding moreover that it did not appear to be offensive and authorized to leave the Coca cola can in the movie so that the cinematographic work could be relized in its integral version".
BUT IT WAS TOO LATE FOR US .
I do not understand WHY the film the Coca Cola Company did'nt approve at first and after agreed that it was ok.
It's incredibile ? it has created a lot of pubblicity for Coca cola and for the film.
Well it is all good what ends good.
So please people go to see our movie on the 4th of may now that coca cola gave us the blessings..
Thank you COCA COLA
Thank you God