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Green Party won't pull ad over lawsuit

Green Party candidate Nader, showing 3 percent of the vote in the latest poll, tells MasterCard to "lighten up" and refuses to pull his "Priceless" campaign ad

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader said Thursday his campaign would keep running a television advertisement based on a series of MasterCard commercials, even though the credit card company filed a lawsuit to make it stop.

MasterCard announced Wednesday that it filed the copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit, after making repeated requests to Nader's campaign committee to stop running the spot.

The advertisement is based on MasterCard's "Priceless" campaign and criticizes his Republican and Democratic rivals for taking large contributions from corporations and for not including Nader in upcoming debates. It is running in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the Democratic convention and on Nader's Internet site.

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MasterCard's lawsuit says the spot could mislead viewers into believing that the company endorsed Nader.

"While we've never minded 'Priceless' being spoofed in a good-natured, non-commercial way," said Larry Flanagan, MasterCard senior vice president, North American marketing, "we have filed lawsuits against other parties that illegally copy the 'Priceless' theme for personal promotion, benefit, or commercial gain."

In a news conference Thursday Nader said the advertisement was political speech, not commercial speech, and accused MasterCard of ignoring the First Amendment.

"MasterCard should lighten up, they are taking their name 'Master' too seriously," Nader said. "This is America."

Nader called the lawsuit "frivolous and foolish" and said it was "outlandish" to think that viewers would be confused.

"Let me assure MasterCard's executives that the last thing I want consumers to think is that my campaign is in the business of selling credit cards," Nader said.

He said that he has called for a "Credit Card Bill of Rights" that would put more restrictions on credit card companies.

MasterCard's lawsuit seeks a court order banning Nader from running the advertisement, and at least $5 million in damages. The company said its main goal is to have the ad stop running.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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