Nike fined for Churchill prank

A PARIS court has handed out €135,000 in fines for dressing up a statue of Winston Churchill in a basketball shirt.

The case dates back to 2011, when sports clothing firm Nike and events organisers Ubi Bene organised the stunt to celebrate the French national basketball team getting into the finals for the European basketball championship (EuroBasket) and qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics.

They took photos of the team next to the 3m-high Churchill statue that stands on Avenue Winston Churchill, just off the Champs-Elysées with a backdrop of the Petit Palais. It was inaugurated in 1988 and is by French sculptor Jean Cardot.

The statue of the wartime British Prime Minister was dressed up in a number 9 Nike branded shirt – at the time that of top French basketball player Tony Parker, who plays for American team San Antonio Spurs.

Mr Cardot, 84, who was not consulted, was not impressed and sued.

Now the Paris Appeal Court has fined the two companies €67,500 each, saying that by exploiting the statue for publicity and displaying it in a way which misrepresented it, they disrespected the work of art.

Nike condamné à verser 67.500 euros pour un maillot de basket sur une statue de Churchill
http://t.co/J4mFxvK9Nf pic.twitter.com/Hr69dhg1pE— BFMTV (@BFMTV) July 1, 2015

Photo: Javier Lastras