Actress in Stricklyviral skit sues Belvedere vodka for using her image in that "rape ad"

Tom from work that matters said "you called it" when he shared this news with me. The only thing I called was that the "Rape ad" was actually nicked from from Strickly viral's "awkward moments" skit. The news is that the actress in the controversial "Belvedere vodka rape" ad files lawsuit. (I put the quotes there, it's not "an ad" as we know it, it's painfully clear that nobody in charge signed off on this.)

Packard, who says she never gave Belvedere producers Moet Hennessy USA permission to use her picture, is suing the company for negligent infliction of emotional distress and misappropriation of likeness, KTLA reported.
She claims the image was stolen from a comedy video made by her company, Strictly Viral Productions.
Packard, who is the voice of Little Miss Sunshine on The Mr Men Show, said the repercussion of being pictured in the tasteless ad had "been huge".
"It's been a really terrible experience - the whole thing," she said. "To be affiliated with an ad that's so offensive to so many has just been horrible. I just want to distance myself from the ad as much as possible."

Yes, because being associated with that terrible skit isn't worse. But this is interesting, the actress is filing suit. Not Stricklyviral? Hmmmmm. Did they actually allow Belvedere vodka to use this image? If not, I'm surprised they haven't filed suit as well.

So who was behind this terrible misstep in social media?

It was someone who had access to Belvedere's Facebook page, Instagram and twitter - or if these things are all connected they might just have had access to the instagram account where the ad first appeared (this link instagr.am/p/IheVxuEMrV).

Observer notes that Last Exit who work(ed) with Belvedere on their social media now seem to be fired. "The link to the branding that Last Exit has done for Belvedere now leads to an Access Denied message". ....Interesting.

You know the expression "Facerape" - god, I hate that word so - where if you leave your smartphone or computer lying around open to pranksters around you, you might discover a nasty message posted to your own facebook wall when you return? I suspect something similar has happened here, and I would suggest to call it "brandrape" if I didn't think it devaluated a serious trigger-word best left alone. Who had access to the social media of Belvedere? And who had access to their smartphone?

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Tom Megginson's picture

Thanks for the namecheck, Åsk!

What I meant by "you called it" was the source of the image and the obvious copyright issues. That the actress is suing for damages was unexpected, to be sure. But I'm sure Stricklyviral's suit is in the works. There's no way they gave permission for that, especially given the talents rights and fees associated.

What impressed me was that you went deeper into this story than any mainstream journalist did.

Dabitch's picture

Aaaaaah. Gotcha.

And cheers for that. Seems I went deeper than other adblogs did as well. Not you. ;9