50 Cent’s Pissed Off and Suing Taco Bell…!

50 cent is pissed off and suing everyone and his babys mama these days. Though he’s got some major legal drama going on with the mother of his son (the traditional child support/housing/visitation/arson stuff), he’s still a good enough multi-tasker to be able to sue more than one person at a time.

Last month Taco Bell royally pissed off 50 after they used him for a stupid publicity stunt – offering to donate $10,000 to the charity of his choice if he’d legally change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent, or 99 Cent – to correspond with the prices on their value menu. They didn’t make the offer privately to him as a business deal, but through a publicly disseminated press release. It was clear that Taco Bell was just doing it for free press and using 50 Cent in the process. He was pretty pissed and threatened legal action. For some reason I don’t think he’d actually sue for something so lame but hey he filed it in the court already so…who knows. If he did sue and make it a huge deal, all it would do is give Taco Bell even more press and that’s the last thing 50 would want to do…because that’s exactly what they want. Though if he does sue like he’s saying he will and wins, that press sure won’t be free for the fast food chain.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, accuses Taco Bell of “diluting the value of his good name” and employing a guerrilla advertising campaign to fool consumers into thinking he had endorsed the chain, said the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court. “Without seeking or obtaining 50’s authorization, defendant Taco Bell made him the star and focus of its nation-wide advertising campaign by using his name, persona and trademark to promote Taco Bell’s business and products,” court papers said. The lawsuit accuses the chain of disseminating a letter, addressed to 50 Cent, that encourages the rapper to change his name to “79 Cent,” “89 Cent” or “99 Cent,” the lawsuit said.

The letter was designed to promote the company’s “79-89-99 Cent Why Pay More” campaign. All in all I think it’s pretty damn funny. He did chose the name 50cent…and when he first came out rappin’ about cars, money and hoes…everyone cracked jokes, sayin’ “all he does is rap about money and he’s not even worth a dollar…just 50 cents!” He needs to put a sock in it and get over it…it’s really not that big of deal….it’s not like anyone else is offering to use him for advertising.