A former product manager for a men’s clothing brand in the Flatiron District alleges that his ex-employer used his name and likeness in an ad campaign mocking him and altering his name to sound like slang for flatulence, as stated in a lawsuit. Cael Schwartz last worked for Birddogs and its boss Peter Baldwin two years ago but was surprised to see a cartoon character resembling him with the name “Cael” in an email sent on August 7th to customers entitled, “WE F—ED UP,” claiming to have made a massive error in ordering product. The cartoon image depicted three men standing around a pile of dark blue Birddogs boxes.
We ordered one million too many gym shorts and joggers. By we, we mean Cael. It was 100% Cael.
Another cartoon included the headline “HOW CAEL ORDERED 1,000,000 PAIRS OF JOGGERS” over an image of a man scratching his head in confusion. According to Schwartz’s Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit against Birddogs and Baldwin, whom he described as a “micro-manager”, the email includes at least four likenesses of him, each portraying him as professionally lost.
The images were sent out to “hundreds of thousands” of people, and when Schwartz raised his concerns, Baldwin merely changed “Cael” to “Gael Fartz”, according to the lawsuit. He is seeking a judge to order the company to cease these ads as well as unspecified damages.
Baldwin and Birddogs have not yet responded to a message requesting comment on this matter.
