Israel’s Hebrew University sues GM for use of shirtless Albert Einstein in People magazine ad
By APWednesday, May 26, 2010
Hebrew University sues GM for People’s Einstein ad
DETROIT — An Israeli university that holds rights to Albert Einstein’s image is asking General Motors Co. to pay for putting the physics pioneer in a magazine ad.
The Detroit automaker grafted the Nobel Prize-winning German scientist’s head onto the body of a buff, shirtless man in a Nov. 30 ad in People magazine.
The ad had the slogan “Ideas Are Sexy Too.”
Hebrew University of Jerusalem filed suit against GM earlier this month federal court in central California. The suit quotes Forbes magazine in 2008 as saying Einstein earned $18 million a year, fourth among deceased celebrities. He died in 1955.
GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney told The Detroit News that the company paid for rights to Einstein’s image.
