14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is threatening to take legal action against a sex shop over posters used to sell adult toys. The similarities between the posters and Apple's silhouettes campaign and the fact that the product is designed to work in conjunction with an iPod has caused the companies lawyers to take action.
The Ann Summers neon-pink ads feature a sexy woman with wires coming out of her iPod and into her underwear, teasing "Go at it hard and fast with a pounding drum'n'bass track or chill with ambient classic." While this is not the first adult product that is designed to be used with an iPod, and likely not the last, it's the advertising that is the root of the problem. Apple's lawyers claim the poster is a blatant rip-off the famous iPod silhouette images, and indeed, the similarities are striking.
Apple is demanding that the stores remove all posters for the gadget, called an iGasm, but have not gone further at this time. "We hope this request to remove it immediately will prevent us having to consider further action," said Apple lawyers. Despite Apple's reaction, it looks like the people behind the iGasm are not very worried. The News of the World newspaper reports Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold saying: "Perhaps I can send them an iGasm to put a smile back on their faces!"
Both the device and the posters for it are clear attempts to ride on the success of the iPod. Now, with stories of the legal conflict being picked up by the media, it looks like both companies will be seeing a lot of free advertising over the quarrel. It seems unlikely that the iGasm posters will not go down, as Apple is very likely to take things further, and considering the similarities between the posters and Apple's famous campaign, would have an easy win.