Does your HS pic say “Lush”? Someone thought hers did…

January 9th, 2015. By LucyC

You know those cards and fridge magnets we all love with sarcastic quips and vintage photos of babes from last century?  “It’s okay, I didn’t want a real life anyway” and “Make your own damn dinner” are some of the slogans used in conjunction with pictures of smiling housewives on a products ranging from mugs, flasks, and sticky notes to towels, calendars and phone cases.

Ever wonder where all those pictures come from? Well, sit down Ethel, have I got a story.

Veronica Vigil, a married mother of two who lives in New Mexico—likely never gave these products a second thought—until one day when her daughter came home with a “novelty product” (read “flask”) that featured a photo of teenage Veronica complete with the appropriate beehive-inspired lid, taken decades ago—as in pre-social media—remember those days anyone?

And—the caption reads…“I’m going to be the most popular girl in rehab.” Oh yes—that will do wonders for your reputation. Which is precisely why Veronica is suing the maker of the products, one Anne Taintor Inc, and also a local gift store in Santa Fe that allegedly carried the products with her likeness on them.

Veronica is claiming that Anne Taintor Inc. somehow got hold of and used her high school graduation picture from 1970 without her permission and has defamed her by linking her image to a product that makes light of substance abuse, in direct conflict with the way Vigil lives her life. While we may expect, sadly, this kind of behavior from Facebook, which has also been sued of alleged use of images of members who did not knowingly give their permission—there’s no gray area with a high school grad picture circa 1970, I wouldn’t have thought.

Vigil’s attorney, Blair Dunn, is quoted in the Santa Fe New Mexican as saying he wasn’t sure which high school Vigil graduated from but believed it was either Española High School or Pojoaque High School.

According to the complaint, “Plaintiff is an active member of her church and does not consume alcohol or drugs… Given the seriousness of the issues of substance abuse in the community in which plaintiff resides, she has held herself out by reputation for her children and her community, to refrain from abuse or even use of alcohol and illicit drugs and has set an example that the issue is a very serious one that destroys families and lives.” FYI—Veronica and hubby have two grown children and operate an auto-restoration business in Española.

Taintor’s use of Vigil’s image has led others to think that Vigil “either has a problem with drugs and alcohol personally, or she condones the use of her image to make light of an important social issue that affects her community,” according to the complaint, and this use has caused her to be “held up to scorn and contempt.”

So how did the company get access to the graduation picture—or a year book—or whatever? Have they done this with anyone one else? Enquiring minds want to know!

Apparently, at the time the story ran in the SFNM, the product was not listed on Taintor’s website, but it was offered on Amazon for prices ranging from $21.95 to $25.29. Holy Hannah Batman! Where do you start?!

So who the heck is Anne Taintor you’re asking? According to her website and Wikipedia, she is a Harvard University graduate who has been “making smart people smile since 1985.” Wikipedia states: “Anne Taintor is an artist whose themes deal with domestic stereotypes, as viewed through the lens of mid-century advertisements typically found in publications such as Ladies Home Journal and Life. Juxtaposing these images with tongue-in-cheek captions, her work serves as a commentary on the stereotypes of women popularized in the 1940s and ’50s. She has been credited by some as being a pioneer in the pairing of mid-century imagery with modern slogans.”

The company is celebrating its 30th anniversary and currently has some 3,000 outlets in 25 countries. Had the company exhausted its supply of Ladies Home Journal imagery and so resorted to American high school pictures?

Virgil’s lawyer told the SFNM that Doodlet’s—a Santa Fe toy store and gift shop that has been in business since 1955 — is named in the complaint because the store has likely sold magnets and cards bearing the same image as the flask, and thousands of other Taintor products over the years. So how long as this been going on?

The owners of Doodlet, however, said in an answer to the complaint that they have never sold Taintor products bearing Vigil’s image and that they should not be a party in the suit.

Dunn claims other New Mexico outlets, including Talin Market in Albuquerque and Cost Plus, also have carried products with Vigil’s image.

Vigil’s lawsuit charges Taintor with defamation, invasion of privacy and unfair trade practices, seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages. Ya think? And, what about royalties?

Well, so much for the “good old days” (ie pre social media) when people didn’t have to worry about image and identity theft. That myth’s now busted.

This was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2015 at 3:58 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.