Hasta La Ideas

By now you’ve likely heard about the woes following singer Jennifer Lopez‘s appearance in a Fiat commercial. First, despite the whole theme of the spot being about how much she loved the Bronx, where she grew up, it was discovered that she filmed the ad in Los Angeles and a body double had done the actual driving through her supposedly beloved neighborhoods (the car also broke down while filming). Second, a fairly tasteless variation on that concept in an instance of product placement run amok with her Fiat-heavy performance at the American Music Awards. Now another round of criticism has hit the singer and the creators of the spot, this time for the use of some art in the background. WPIX reports that the artist Wilfredo Felicia is upset over the use of one of his company‘s murals in the spot, without his consent and without any compensation. What particularly irks him, he tells the station, is that he’d actually done work for Lopez before, providing a mural for a music video she’d made eight years ago. However, beyond just an irk, the mural used in the commercial also has a copyright behind it, as do all of his company’s paintings, which opens the door to potential legal repercussions (though it appears that that’s now unlikely to happen). Fiat has replied to the complaint, saying they were unaware that the mural was protected and had expected their agency to “conduct the due diligence” and will now be working toward resolving the issue. Felicia tells the station that he’s not upset with Lopez herself, as she was merely a part of this larger production, but adds that “if she is going to represent the Bronx she [should] be more aware of what people around her are doing,” which of course returns you to the heart of that very first complaint about the spot.

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