Uma Thurman is pissed. The actress filed a $15M federal lawsuit this past Friday against Lancome for, as WWD puts it, "allegedly continuing to use her image in advertising even though her contract had expired. According to Thurman's lawyer, Bert Fields, her contract with Lancôme ended in 2004, but the brand has continued to use her image to sell products all around the world during the past four years."

What... you guys thought she wouldn't see her picture in the Paris subway. This is fricking Uma Thurman. Hello? The lady is beyond global. She's intergalactic planetary.

Lancome is calling bullshit with a countersuit saying they don't owe her a dime. They even trotted out a fuckwit of a PR rep for L'Oreal (Lancome's parent company) who basically admitted their guilt:

"The use of Ms. Thurman's image after her contract expired, however minor, was neither deliberate nor intentional."

McCann is L'Oreal's AOR. Not to say they are to blame or anything. A funny note about that... Overheard at the death star agency - a bigwig admitting that they just spend L'Oreal's money on digital, just to say they've fulfilled their digital obligations. Forget strategy, social media, blah, blah... Just build something expensive, throw in some e-commerce, bill the client and hope for the best. How McCann continues to survive while their leadership wastes great talent and churns out mediocre work? No idea. None.

So, you know, Beyonce has a clothing line called House of Dereon. Her poorly named clothing company has naturally begun advertising with Beyonce and her mother, Tina Knowles, behind the creative.

When will superstars learn that just because you can, does not mean you should. The foray into advertising had gotten the pair into a spot of trouble. The images feature little girls dressed up like video hussies. Where the pole at? Take a look here.

It's not just big media making a stink. Check out some consumer feedback:

1. "So inappropriate. Whose idea was this? Why weren't they fired?"

2. "Little girls aren't hookers and you shouldn't dress them up like your backup dancers just because you're hawking your trashy product!"

3. "...little Nay Nay walking with her mom (Jaqueneisha & dem) thru the mall with her HOD Girls outfit and her mother wearing a matching HOD outfit..."
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What do you get when you take one Rumer Willis (that daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore), add a touch of Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, and a chunk of Wilmer Valderrama of the 70's Show?
A Wal-Mart ad! Well, sort of anyways. OP, the summer time brand of all brands, has selected the trio to be the face of the brand's Wal-Mart only line and associated campaign.

I get Wentz, totally, and Rumer has been all over the Teen People and Elle Girl pages for the past six months. What I don't get is Wilmer. Sorry. Isn't he so over? Yes, he's going to be in the movie remake of Chips, but that only adds to the "over" argument if you ask me.
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In case you missed it... Christ. The Hoff. Love it.

Back end to this spot is that normally, celebs sign a "death and disgrace" clause or separate contract. In the event of either of these things, the agency/brand gets their money back from the celebrity for tarnishing the brand. However, Hoff (being Hoff) was expected to fuck up and so, was not forced to sign. The spot went forward with agency Karmarama behind the wheel. Don't you know that David, just a day before the shoot, broke his arm by falling off a bike? Look closely at the spot and you can catch a glimpse of his black cast.

Love this kind of stuff. A reader suggested we ask you creatives for the details behind some of your favorite celeb commercials. Come on... did you watch Beyonce's wig come off? Did you see Brit Brit puke while shooting a soft drink spot? Do tell... Email yeah? agencyspy at gmail dot com

Omnicom can't stop. Won't stop. The latest news is that the company has teamed up with a newly created NBC Universal production unit to create programs around sponsors' products. It's like Honeyshed, but with air of pretension. This is straight up selling. Forget the cool kids, let's make some money!

NBC Universal Digital Studio will work with a division of Omnicom Group Digital to create web specific shows that allows advertisers to get in early and have some say in how their products will be featured. For an example, there's the Rosario Dawson (so hot) project titled Gemini Division, which comes with sponsors Intel, Microsoft, UPS and Acura TSX. Dawson is not only the star, but a producer. The Hollywood Reporter is saying, naturally, the web version is really just a test to see if the program can fly in prime time.

Omnicom Media Group Digital chief executive Matt Spiegel said that this new method of creating shows is:

"a unique way of giving brands a seat at the table with writers and producers in developing episodic programming that ties directly to brand needs."

Bravo to NBC for figuring out to be more flexible with content generation, as well as delivery methods, but um... doesn't that sound awful? The part where CMOs are getting in on the creative level? Oh. Oh. So, bad. You deal with these guys all the time. Good idea machines? Not so much. Wishy washy, knock-kneed, consumer fearing blowhards? Hell, yes.

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JWT is responsible for the new print ads associated with the launch of David Beckham's new fragrance line called (guffaw) "Instinct After Dark." Cliche alert! Cliche alert! This is the prototype, the maxim of a men's fragrance ad. You have the brand wattage and bod of Beckham at your disposal and you phone this kind of stuff in? Shameless.

This is a limited edition line for Coty that is separate and distinct from that of Posh and Beck's "Intimately Beckham" scent. Those ads are even harder to look at and not nearly as funny or inventive as Posh's Marc Jacobs piece. JWT is not responsible for these latter two ads. Just the snoozer over there to the left.

British Airways is launching a new premium trans-Atlantic airline subsidiary called OpenSkies - a take on the "Open Skies" treaty, which just swung into effect. Here's a funny side note: the service was code named "Project Lauren" by the company before the new regulations took effect. Not sure why.

Anyway, the airline will now offer direct service between Paris and New York, and will later add destinations throughout continental Europe. After a review, the account will be handled by Taxi, New York and Horizon Media. BBH was also up for the account, as well as Publicis and Nitro according to AdAge.

Today, British Airways also just banned Naomi Campbell from their planes for throwing a shit fit at Heathrow. Bitch actually lugied on someone! Bravo to British Airways!

Patrick Dempsey has signed up with iconic cosmetic company Avon to be the spokewhore for a new line of man's fragrances that he will also help create. Dempsey's wife, celebrity makeup artist Jillian Dempsey, has worked with the company since July 2006 as their Global Creative Color Director, so maybe she hooked her man up with the gig?

McDreamy, as many ladies call him, make some sense for his sex appeal, but we're wondering... isn't it the ladies who love him? Do dudes love McDreamy, too? And wait... do dudes really think of Avon as the go to place for their fragrance? I'm not a dude, so I'd welcome some comments, yeah?

Ashton Kutcher, is to be the new face for Nikon's COOLPIX Style series cameras. The campaign will debut nationally on March 25th with a television commercial, which precedes the print advertisements and an interactive online component. The television campaign spots, directed by Brian Buckley, have Kutcher's COOLPIX camera being discretely taken and passed around by numerous adoring fans who take several pictures with it before slipping it back into Ashton's pocket.

McCann Erickson is Nikon's agency of record. You know, we liked McCann's campaign for Picturetown U.S.A., where the agency gave away high end, point and shoot cameras to a small town. The resulting ads and microsite were beautiful. Nice work. The problem with Picturetown? You didn't get much more than the picture and this is where McCann failed their client. It didn't breathe beyond it's flat frame. Yes, you could send a photo to a friend. Yawn.

Why couldn't you:

- Purchase a print of one of the photos with the proceeds going to this small town's fire department or the individual who took the photo? The first is a "do-good" angle, the second is an empowerment of consumer creativity. Overall, it would be a way for consumers to understand what Nikon had really done and own a piece of it: the brand captured moments of Americana and real life and beautifully, too.

- The photos could have been posted in other small towns tied to semacodes and created a nationwide hide and seek of sorts.

- The concept could have gotten amateur photographers in San Diego and those in Deluth of their towns and sent them to Nikon. Consumers would have to list what Nikon camera you used and some other details about the photograph much like the Lomographic Society. This would of created a consumer generated American art show.

- At the least, they could of repeated the project from US town to US town or from age bracket (1st graders) to age group (octogenarians).

- Oh! And why can't you buy the camera straight from the website? For fuck's sake!

We could go on. Swear. We love this concept. It had goodness, passion, locality, etc. but it had no life beyond it's second of media attention, when it could have lived forever. That's the real shame of it. McCann didn't go that extra mile.

Riddle us this: Why do so many campaigns stop short of being a larger movement, digging its fingers into the community and taking advantage of the legs that are beneath it? We don't understand.

Eva Mendes is the new face of CK underwear for the launch of their new campaign, "Seductive Comfort." She will also be featured in a new Calvin Klein fragrance campaign that also launches in the fall. Don't recognize the face? Eva has been in "Training Day," and "Hitch," as well as, last year's favorite crash and burn film,"We Own the Night." Don't matter none. The lady is super hot.

Bob Mazzoli, Chief Creative Officer of Calvin Klein Underwear said:

"Seductive Comfort is our new collection of bras which offer the unique combination of the Calvin Klein aesthetic with a new level of fit, support, and superior comfort. Eva’s universal appeal will enable us to communicate this new launch to our worldwide audience."