On the occasion of the broadcast tonight on TFX of The Hangover 2, a look back at the affair between the Warner Bros studio and the French trunk maker Louis Vuitton.
When it comes to spotting product placements in works, brands have an eye. On May 25, 2011, the second volume of the Very Bad Trip franchise was released on our screens. Seven months later, on December 22, Louis Vuitton filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros, accusing them of damaging its brand. At issue, a scene from the film in which the character played by Zach Galifianakis asks his friends to take care of a travel bag: " Be careful, it's a Louis ... it's a Louis Vuitton ", we hear him say.
A detail for an uninformed eye but which pushed the giant of luxury leather goods to claim compensation from the American studio. The complaint relates specifically to the accessory used which is said to be manufactured by the Diophy group, a company sued by Vuitton for counterfeiting its bags. Thus, the sequence in question " would suggest that the Diophy bag is a real Vuitton luggage "and that the brand used the film to advertise itself. Between unfair competition and brand infringement, the French trunk maker therefore chose the justice option to restore the truth.
This was without counting on federal judge Andrew Carter, who dismissed the complaint in June 2012, saying that it was "highly unlikely" that spectators noticed the imitation, given his few seconds of presence on the screen. Much ado about nothing so ...
