iLounge

Lugz Footwear said late Friday that it has sent a cease and desist letter to both Apple and its adverstising agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, over the similarities between a Lugz TV commercial from 2002 and Apple’s new iPod + iTunes spot featuring rapper Eminem.

As previously reported, Apple’s new ad is strikingly similar to the three year old Lugz commercial, with both featuring an urban background in red, orange and yellow hues with a hip-hop soundtrack and black silhouette dancers.

“If you look at these spots, common sense would tell you that there’s a problem here,”  Larry Schwartz, executive vice president and a principal of Lugz parent company JSSI, said in a statement. “The Apple commercial uses the most powerful elements of our campaign, making the ads disturbingly similar. We are prepared to vigorously pursue all legal remedies in order to protect our rights.”