# Shockvertising Lawsuits American Apparel's $5 Million Payout to Woody Allen By Christina Butty | Published 2009-05-20 | Marketing Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/holy-shockvertising-american-apparel-rustles-religous-feathers References: [living.oneindia.in](http://living.oneindia.in/insync/2009/american-apparel-woody-allen-190509.html) & [americanapparel.net](http://americanapparel.net/) Picking up where Diesel and Calvin Klein left off in the 90s, American Apparel loves [creating controversy with their advertising](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mariemurs-judge-me-guilty). Unfortunately this time they may have taken it too far. One of the ads released circa 2007 showed Woody Allen parodied as a rabbi without his permission, and he sued. In May, the case reached a settlement and Allen was awarded $5 million by the retailer. I guess the shockertising went too far this time. **Implications** - Consumers are looking for [advertisements that contain](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mens-wearhouse) an [element of popular culture](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/i-can-fix-him). Products that feature a certain figure in the media appeal to shoppers who want to see their favorite characters associated with certain brands. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 4.5/10 - Popularity: 73% | Activity: 54% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/marketing) > [Publicity Stunts](https://www.trendhunter.com/publicitystunts) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Controversial Advertising:** Opportunities for brands to generate buzz and attention by pushing the boundaries of traditional advertising and creating controversy. - **Pop Culture Branding:** Potential for brands to leverage popular figures and characters from media to create associations and appeal to consumers. - **Legal Challenges in Advertising:** Growing importance for brands to ensure proper permissions and avoid potential lawsuits when using celebrity or public figure parodies in advertising. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Advertising and Marketing:** Disruptive innovation opportunities for creative agencies and marketing firms to explore new, controversial approaches to advertising campaigns. - **Apparel and Fashion:** Potential for fashion brands to collaborate with popular figures in media to create unique and attention-grabbing collections. - **Intellectual Property Law:** Increased demand for legal services specializing in intellectual property rights and permissions, particularly in the advertising industry. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Comical Lawsuit-Inspired Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/glebe-farms-oatly-lawsuit.md) - [Naughty Holiday Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/diesels-xxxmas.md) - [Provocative Guerrilla Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mwcurated.md) - [Humorous Mens Fragrance Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/axe-campaign.md) - [Athletic Apparel Interactive Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/shoplift-campaign.md) - [Employee Fragrance Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/lidl-fragrance-campaign.md) - [Courtroom Drama-Inspired Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/butterkist1.md) - [Mock Social Good Fashion Ads](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/not-models-own.md) - [Y2K Shopping Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/thats-smoooth.md)