Apple May Face Legal Action Over Eminem iPod Ad

Left: Lugz; Right: Apple.

The growing spat over Apple's new Eminem iPod ad, which appears to have been ripped-off from a 2002 spot for Lugz footwear, may result in legal action, according to the New York Times.

"We're going to take all the steps we need to protect our rights," a Lugz spokesman told the Times.

"We're very upset," Larry Schwartz, executive vice president and principal at Lugz in New York, said in an interview. "The look and feel are awfully similar."

"We think very highly of Apple," Mr. Schwartz said. "We don't understand how this could have happened."

In response, Apple's ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, issued its first statement about the ad.

In the statement from TBWA/Chiat/Day, part of the TBWA Worldwide unit of the Omnicom Group, the agency described itself as "dedicated to creating original ideas."

"We do not plagiarize, borrow, or steal them, and have a strict policy of not accepting third-party ideas in our creative process," the statement read. The agency's Playa del Rey, Calif., office has long created campaigns for Apple including award-winning ads that carried the theme "Think different."

... But in its statement, TBWA/Chiat/Day said, "We can assure you that the 'Detroit' spot was created without any reference by TBWA/Chiat/Day to the 'Arrow' spot."

"Our intention was to develop a campaign that was a natural and independent evolution of the 'Silhouettes' campaign," the statement read. "Any similarities between the two spots are regrettable."