50 Cent Sues Taco Bell over Ad Campaign

Angry at a letter circulated among the media using his name, rapper 50 Cent is suing fast food franchise Taco Bell for millions over misappropriation of his name.

The letter is part of Taco Bell's "Why Pay More?" ad campaign, which touts their items under a dollar. In the document, the company asks 50 Cent to change his name to 79, 89 or 99 Cent - the prices of their Cinnamon Twists, Crunchy Tacos, and Bean Burritos, respectively. The court papers say the letter was bogus, and not even sent to the rapper, but just trying to co-opt 50's famous name without paying him a dime.

However, the letter was vague enough that many people thought 50 had actually given his seal of approval to the chain.

"Taco Bell traded on the name of the world's biggest hip-hop star to draw attention to its new, hip-hop-based advertising campaign, and thereby generated massive publicity for its business," the suit said. "As Taco Bell intended, many customers believed that 50 Cent had agreed to endorse Taco Bell's products. Indeed, postings on numerous Internet 'blogs' castigated 50 Cent for 'selling out' by his apparent endorsement of Taco Bell."

Rob Poetsch, a spokesman for Taco Bell Corp., said it was all in good fun.

"We made a good faith, charitable offer to 50 Cent to change his name to either 79, 89, or 99 Cent for one day by rapping his order at a Taco Bell, and we would have been very pleased to make the $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice."

The star seeks quite a bit more than that, however: $4 million in damages.