Online electricity retailer Powershop has been forced to withdraw an outdoor campaign which compares its competitors to Star Wars’ evil tyrant Darth Vader after a complaint from Lucasfilm.
The campaign, launched in September, featured an image like that of the iconic Star Wars character but drew attention from the studio which owns all the rights associated with the franchise created by George Lucas, as it had not licensed the use of the likeness.
The company said in a statement: “Powershop Australia Pty Limited (Powershop) acknowledges that some of the images and text previously appearing on our website and on Powershop’s advertising and promotional material could be similar to copyrighted artistic works owned by Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC and its affiliated companies.
“Some members of the public may have believed that Powershop was authorised to use Lucasfilm’s intellectual property. In light of this, Powershop has removed the material from the market and apologises for any inconvenience caused.”
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The billboard ads were created by New Zealand agency DoubleFish.
Miranda Ward