Banned Xbox ad spurs lawsuit
The commercial, which was called "shocking" and was banned from being shown on U.K. television, could land Microsoft in a French court.
French filmmaker Audrey Schebat filed suit in a Paris court claiming that a TV commercial for Microsoft's video game console was copied from her short film "Life," according to Toronto's Globe and Mail.
The commercial, created by London ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, depicts a baby shooting from its mother's womb and rapidly aging as it soars through the air. Britain's Independent Television Commission called the ad "shocking" and banned it from being shown on U.K. television, although it is still being run in movie theaters there. The commercial won one of the top awards last weekend at the prestigious International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France.
Schebat's suit names the ad agency and Microsoft as defendants. A representative of Bartle Bogle Hegarty told the Globe the suit would be "vigorously defended."