There’s an actress named Phoebe Jonas who, if you watch television shows geared to a certain demographic, you may recognize. From June 2016 through March of this year, Phoebe was the “Phillips Lady,” when she served as the spokesperson for Bayer’s digestive health products; laxatives, fiber gummies, stool softener, and good old Milk of Magnesia.
Phoebe’s contract ended in the spring of this year and then, as she put forth in a suit filed last week seeking damages of $500,000, Bayer didn’t do her right.
According to Jonas, Bayer continued to use her image on their website; something for which they later compensated her. They also, per her allegations, began using a bobblehead figurine, created in her likeness and without her permission, in order to avoid paying her any sort of remuneration. “At no point did plaintiff ever give Bayer consent, permission and/or authority to create and/or air the Bobble Head video portraying her likeness on the internet, television commercials or any other form of media,” the complaint says.
Replaced by an effigy. A shimmy-headed replica.
It’s the world of ordering kiosks at fast food restaurants. Driverless cars and delivery drones. Chatbots. Farmbots running open source software. All of them more cost effective and less prone to workplace drama than the human beings that have historically done these jobs.
So what about that Phillips Lady bobblehead? Bayer, of course, is challenging the assertion that it’s a likeness of the actress and fighting the suit. I don’t know that I’m convinced the figurine is supposed to be Phoebe Jonas specifically but, undoubtedly, providing direction to a bobblehead is more efficient from a production standpoint.
Forget the concerns about automation and machines taking over our jobs; now we have to worry about the dolls.
Even the humans won’t need to be human anymore.
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Image: Phillips Colon Health
