VCR and Wheel of Fortune in 2012

January 28th, 2013

In White v. Samsung Electronic America, Vanna White sued Samsung for creating an advertisement that invoked the image of her. The purpose of the advertisement was to illustrate that in 2012, Vanna White would be replaced by a robot, but Samsung VCRs would still be used to record it.

Here’s how Judge Kozinski described it in his dissental.

The ad that spawned this litigation starred a robot dressed in a wig, gown and jewelry reminiscent of Vanna White’s hair and dress; the robot was posed next to a Wheel-of-Fortune-like game board. See Appendix. The caption read “Longest-running game show. 2012 A.D.” The gag here, I take it, was that Samsung would still be around when White had been replaced by a robot.

Oh, it is exactly the opposite.

Vanna-White