Today in Things We Missed, a model who appeared in a 2012 ad for a plastic surgery center created by JWT’s Taipei office announced in a press conference earlier this month that she is threatening to sue the agency and the client for ruining her reputation.
The ad has allegedly prevented her from getting work due to its popularity as a meme. Its viral nature stems, at least in part, from JWT’s decision to Photoshop the kids in the ad to make them look a bit more hideous.
Here’s the offending ad, which the BBC hilariously blurred in its coverage. Its caption reads, “The only thing you’ll ever have to worry about is how to explain it to the kids,” ha ha.
As Shanghaist put it a couple of weeks ago, “[the ad has] given her 3 years of living hell” after a tabloid turned it into a “fake story of a man who sued his wife because their children were too ugly.” The model Heidi Yeh claims she was initially told that the image would only run in print ads for the original client. She now alleges, however, that JWT sold the image to Simple Beauty for use in its online promotions. It then went viral–and now she says she will sue both parties for approximately $150,000.
The BBC story, which went live yesterday, implies that the suit has not yet been filed. It does include some interesting statements from JWT Taipei, which essentially argues that it cannot be held responsible for the image’s popularity. Here’s what the office told the BBC after noting that it owns the rights to the pic:
“[The ad] was created to promote plastic surgery services in a humorous manner.
As we all know, no-one controls the internet…We can’t anticipate what degree of an impact it will have, how people will view it, and what they will do with it.”
Some parties seem to think Yeh just wants attention (or a settlement), but both agency and client now want her to hold another press conference and apologize.