Published on Wednesday, September 13, 2000 in Salon
Nader to MasterCard: I Win!
A judge denies the company's request to squash the
presidential
candidate's "priceless" parody ad.
by Damien Cave
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that presidential candidate
Ralph Nader has the right to keep
running a biting political ad that parodies what MasterCard
calls its "famous and renowned
'priceless' advertising campaign."
"We're pleased with the court's ruling, and we believe it's
the correct decision," said Theresa
Amato, Nader's campaign manager. "It's clearly a parody,
clearly free speech."
The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge George B.
Daniels in New York, denied the
credit card company's request for a temporary restraining
order, essentially throwing out the
$15 million lawsuit that MasterCard filed last month. The
denial allows Nader to keep
publishing the ads on his Web site. And that's just what
he'll do, Amato says.
It also signifies a very public defeat for MasterCard. The
credit card giant had claimed that
Nader's ad stole from their own campaign -- which tempts us
with such intangibles as "a
day where all you have to do is breathe," followed by the
word, "priceless." The campaign
drives home our addiction to consumerism with the tag line,
"There are some things money
can't buy ... for everything else there's MasterCard."
(MasterCard could not be reached for
comment.)
Nader's ad puts a silly spin, reminiscent of the old
"Saturday Night Live," on the concept.
After MasterCard filed its suit, the Green Party candidate
told the Associated Press:
"[MasterCard] should lighten up. They're taking their name,
'Master' too seriously. This is
America."
The courts have now agreed.
Damien Cave is a staff writer for Salon Technology.
Copyright � 2000 Salon.com
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