NBC's "Heroes" sued by garbage-disposal company

from zap2it

Garbage Disposal Maker Sues NBC Over 'Heroes' Scene
Company says its product cast 'in unsavory light'

The company that makes In-Sink-Erator garbage disposers is suing NBC,
claiming that an episode of the new show "Heroes" makes the product
look bad.

Appliance maker Emerson filed the lawsuit in a St. Louis federal court
Monday, seeking to block rebroadcasts of the "Heroes" pilot. In the
episode, a high-school cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere) who has the
ability to withstand injury sticks her hand into an In-Sink-Erator
while it's running, mangling her fingers (which return to normal
within a few seconds).

Emerson's suit claims the scene "casts the disposer in an unsavory
light, irreparably tarnishing the product" by suggesting that serious
injuries will result "in the event consumers were to accidentally
insert their hand into one."

kilroybass...

so emerson is suggesting that the disposer will not harm a person's
hands. man, that's some
great technology.

El Puerco...

Harm, yes, but not chop into little pieces. Hell, those things can't even
handle banana peels!

Obveeus...

To be fair, the disposal didn't cut off her fingers, it just messed them up
a bit.
Besides, her 'superpower' seems to be that she cannot die, but that she is
also extrordinarily fragile. How many cheerleaders that get run into by a
football player brake their necks like that?

daveparks_00...

Now that you mention it - when the cheerleader *purposefully* jumped
off the tall structure, for the "sixth" time - and for the purpose of
having her friend videotape it - why did she scream and kick on the way
down?

David...

Because falling is scary. People also scream on rollercoasters.

daveparks_00...

You're right, "falling is scary" - intentially jumping from a
not-so-high structure for the sixth time knowing that you don't get
permanantly hurt and AFAICT, don't even feel pain? Eh, not so much.

Steven L....

Fear is an instinctive reaction. I have such a fear of heights that
when I lived in a high-rise apartment building on a high floor, I
couldn't even dare to look out the windows of my apartment--even though
*intellectually* I know that I can't fall thru the floor.

How about fly-boy, who intentionaly stepped off a building and fell
from a much greater distance for the 'first' time, not knowing, but
"thinking" he could fly? There's your scream moment, right there.

Obveeus...

Kicking and screaming: she is a cheerleader, that is what they do.

daveparks_00...

Discounting the whole dramatic out-of-context promo thing - That's the
best reason I've heard so far.

The suit, however, is more about NBC's use of the In-Sink-Erator name
than the content of the scene, the company says. "It's a trademark
thing," spokesman Dan Callahan tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

NBC hasn't commented on the suit.

Hunter Rose...

"Your Honor, this suit is clearly intended to generate
publicity for the plaintiff and is inherently frivolous. We ask for
summary dismissal and fining of the plaintiff in the amount of the
value of the anticipated publicity."

Emerson is asking for a ruling barring future broadcasts of the pilot,
which is available on NBC's website and has already aired on NBC
Universal-owned cable networks USA and Sci Fi. It also seeks to block
NBC from using any Emerson trademarks in the future.

Pidge...

Oh man, that's hysterical! Way to get more people watching, heh.