A tweet is limited to 140 characters, but a picture might be
worth six million dollars. Actress Katherine Heigl, who rose to
Hollywood stardom on the medical drama television series
Grey's Anatomy, is suing the Duane Reade pharmacy
chain for tweeting her image.
At some point a paparazzo took a picture of Heigl carrying Duane
Reade shopping bags on her way out of the pharmacy. Duane Reade
found it on a celebrity gossip website. On March 18, 2014, Duane
Reade included the image in a tweet that read, "Love a
quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can't resist shopping
#NYC's favorite drugstore."
That Heigl shopped at Duane Reade is a fact. When and how
exactly does sharing this fact become an advertisement? In the
media, it's common to include celebrities in advertising (where
obtaining permission to use a celebrity's name is a legal
requirement) and in editorial content (where obtaining permission
is not required). Then there is the third category of
