A man who filed a lawsuit after having appeared nude in a Nova advertisement has settled the dispute out of court, Vísir reports. “The matter has been resolved, and all parties are satisfied,” the man’s lawyer stated.
“Something to do with a watch?”
On November 3, 2021, the Icelandic telecommunications company Nova premiered an ad for its new smart-watch service, Úrlausn.
The alleged aim of the service – profit-motive notwithstanding – was to encourage the eternally hunched-over populace to spend less time gazing into the abyss of their smartphones and more time … staring down at their watches.
The messaging may have been lost on many viewers whose eyeballs were too busy pinballing from one sex organ to the next to accurately identify any deftly-placed products.
Second and third thoughts
Cynicism aside, the ad was widely considered a refreshing and bold celebration of the unadorned human anatomy in all its various shapes and sizes (and in some wonderfully awkward circumstances too).
But not everyone was in on the celebration.
Among those who found fault with all the gratuitous nudity was a man who voluntarily contributed to the gratuitous nudity himself. Having unveiled himself, the man experienced second thoughts about his involvement in the production.
After airing his reservations to the ad agency, Brandenburg, the man maintains that he received written confirmation from the producers that he would not appear naked in the ad. But appear he did.
He went on to file suit against the ad agency, demanding compensation to the tune of ISK seven million, having suffered significant emotional distress (a curious subplot, given that the ad also aimed to advocate for emotional hygiene and “body positivity”).
Separating sincerity and subterfuge
Despite not being directly involved in the filming of the ad, Nova lamented the man’s plight, adding that it had explicitly requested participants willing to appear in the nude.
In a public statement, Margrét Tryggvadóttir – Nova’s Master of Ceremonies – wrote that the company had “consistently worked to promote mental wellness, and having received word of his distress, immediately pulled versions of the ad featuring the man.”
Nova subsequently announced that it would do its utmost to support the man, whether such assistance involved “paying for sessions with a psychologist or something else.”
All’s well that ends well
Yesterday, Vísir reported that an out-of-court settlement had been reached. Sævar Þór Jónsson, the man’s lawyer, confirmed that the case had been dropped.
In a characteristically lawyerly response, Sævar stated that he was “unable to comment on the details of the settlement,” but added that “the matter had been resolved, and all parties were satisfied.”
“Which is good.”
