Arkansas Couple Sues McDonalds Over Nude Pics on CellPhone

According to a lawsuit filed Friday, Nov. 21, a Fayetteville, AR couple, Phillip and Tina Sherman, left their cellphone at a McDonalds restaurant back in July. Unfortunately, the cellphone had pictures stored of nude pictures of Tina. According to legal briefs in the suit, the man called McDonalds asking the manager ot the McDonalds to hold the phone until the couple could return to retrieve it. Then, much to the couples' dismay, the nude pictures of Tina Sherman surfaced on the internet.

Thus, Phillip and Tina Sherman are suing McDonalds, the local franchise in Fayetteville, and the store manager for the sum of $3 million for "pain and suffering, embarassment" or some such, and the cost of moving to a new home. Are the pictures that bad? But seriously, this act of "naked aggression" deserves some sort of compensation, but $3 million? I mean, no one has the right to post pictures anywhere found on someone else's cellphone. On the other hand, one would think that a couple carrying around something so private would be a little more careful. The whole thing smacks of a frivolous lawsuit such as the one involving hot coffee spilled in the lap of a McDonalds drive through patron a few years ago.

It brings to mind some of the famous McDonalds advertising slogans over the years, some of which pertain to this situation.

In 1965, back in the early days of the McDonalds franchise,McDonalds' advertising slogan was "Look for the golden arches". Somehow, I suspect the woman's arches are not what most of the pervs are looking at online. Of course, the "golden arches" may be somewhere besides the feet...

In 1971, McDonalds introduced their most famous advertising slogan, "you deserve a break today", which was recycled at least twice more in later years. I'm sure in filing this lawsuit against McDonalds, Phillip and Tina Sherman think they are just trying to get the "break" they deserve. However, I doubt they ever see $3 million out of this.

In 1992, McDonalds introduced a new advertising slogan, "what you want is what you get". Hmmm. Some of the Sherman's neighbors may have wanted to see nude photos of Tina. I doubt that what the Shermans wanted..., but that's what they're getting.

One McDonalds ad slogan of 2000 was "we love to make you smile". Some people are obviously smiling about the Shermans' lawsuit against McDonalds, or the nude pics of Tina Sherman.

Another McDonalds ad slogan in 2000 was "put a smile on". They must have forgotten to tell the woman that they were not talking about wearing nothing but a smile...

This decade brought the McDonalds slogan "I'm lovin' it". Bloggers and the like, do we need to explain this one?

This year, 2008, brought a new McDonalds advertising slogan, "what we're made of". I doubt if this lawsuit is what McDonalds had in mind. I doubt if the complainants in this suit wanted the whole world to know what Tina Sherman is made of. A side note to the Shermans: you might want to invest in one of those cellphone holders that clips to a belt...

And, finally, as bad as it is for someone to sell pictures like this or download the pictures off of someone else's cellphone without the subject's permission, is a $3 million lawsuit the answer? I doubt that McDonalds, either the local manager or the company as a whole, is responsible for this situation. it seems to be another situation in which someone wants to be saved from themselves and their own reckless actions. I suspect that most of the world would never have known about these nude pictures without this lawsuit, so in effect, the Shermans are seeking to cash in on an unfortunate situation brought about by their own carelessness.