Apparently Lindsay Lohan suing E-Trade has sparked a whole wave of celebrities wanting to sue to protect their images from humiliation despite the fact it isn't really their images.
The latest example is that Hulk (I stole that name from Marvel) Hogan says that a new commercial featuring The Flintstones uses Hulk's image without his permission and humiliates him because Bam-Bam beats the crap out of a wrestler who beat up Fred & Barney.
Just because some wrestler in a commercial is named Hulk Boulder doesn't mean it is all about Hulk Hogan. Seriously. Not everything is about you. There are people in the world who have original thoughts and ideas and just because you have no money because of your divorce and the fact you let your son go driving and almost kill someone does not mean you get to sue my Cocoa Pebbles.
If you watch the video you will clearly see that the wrestler in the commercial has hair. Umm, when is the last time Hulk had hair? The wrestler in the commercial has a very thin, long, groomed mustache while Hulk Hogan has some type of ragged growth that is designed to distract from the fact he has no hair. This wrestler is not wearing a bandanna, and is also not rubbing his daughter's inner thighs with tanning lotion or drooling while she shows him her new moves on a stripper pole and then gives him a lap dance. When that happens, then he can sue. Damn he annoys me.
I don't know how original of an idea Hulk Boulder really is...
ReplyDeleteIt is not very original but I don't think it goes far enough to sue over. And I can think of about 1 million other things that Hulk should be humiliated over.
ReplyDeleteGold, Enty! That last paragraph cracked me right up.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I think it probably *is* based on Hogan. Litigiousness is lame.
I'm with Alice.
ReplyDeleteIt's like when Spike Lee sued Spike tv which used absolutely no references to him. Like he owns the word spike.
ReplyDeleteHe should be more humiliated over the fact that he fawns over his daughter and that he and his family seem extremely unsympathetic to the plight of a car crash victim and his family than by an 'apparent' sort of likeness of him. Hulk Boulder seems way cooler in his Speedos than Hogan could ever be. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Tara. Not to mention the dating women who look just like the daughter, and the rubbing lotion on the inner upper thigh of the daughter. The whole family makes my skin crawl.
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ReplyDeleteI think they could argue that it is parody, but it definitely reads as Hulk Hogan to me.
ReplyDeleteThe character seemed similar to the hulk, but I would never think "Look! the hulk in a cereal comercial" so I'm not sure if a law suit would squeeze a lot of money. Now those comments about his daughter are so gross because are true :S
ReplyDeleteA complete waste of space and oxygen.
ReplyDeleteyou...have got...to be KIDDING me! he is such a nerd. i agree that he should be humiliated about his ding dong family and nutso ex-wife and let this one slide. what a narcissist
ReplyDeleteI dunno....they are kinda similar but not lawsuit similar. Whatever. That last paragraph made me throw up in my mouth a little. ;)
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Gorgeous George (old timey wrestler) with a mustache. Mannerisms match. Screw Hulk Hogan.
ReplyDeleteMarvel Comics should sue HIM. It's not like there haven't been two movies with the HULK as the title.
Idjit.
Well now I want a bowl of cocoa pebbles
ReplyDeleteHulk Boulder is not that original, but it is not lawsuit-worthy imho. I tried to explain the difference between imitation and invention in an essay on Lady Gaga, with who knows what success. From that essay:
ReplyDelete"The word "imitate" comes from the Latin word "imago," meaning "image." To imitate something is to copy its image, without the substance or value to back it up. A counterfeit coin, for example, might be a likeness of the real thing, but it does not have the value of a real one.
An homage is "a special honor or respect shown publicly." The word comes from the medeival Latin word "hominaticum," a word which originally denoted a ceremony where a vassal declared himself to be his lord's "man." An homage implies respect, deference and acknowledgment of debt, not just to the artist but to art itself, to a divine principle or some extrapersonal creative force."
No extrapersonal creative forces were invoked in the making of this commercial, or in Hulk Hogan's career.
actually -- that wrestler totally looks like him -- and he is a globally recognized icon, so he should be paid for this, they ripped him off -- WRONG ENTY
ReplyDeletewrestler personages are trademarked -- and Hulk has been used in countless marketing things, including a cartoon series in the 1980s -- he should def have been paid for this ... the character is named "hulk" for chrissakes
ReplyDeleteAre these stars going to start suing SNL for their unflattering parodies, now? If the stars can establish these figures are considered likenesses of the actors themselves, it would seem to me that the creators of these commercials would be protected under the same laws that protect comedy shows like SNL from such lawsuits.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, the only thing a lawsuit does is it makes the celeb seem more douchey.