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Cereal Box Holds Real Surprise

Posted on: Friday, 20 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By John Shiffman, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jan. 20--The way Thelma Neufeld tells it, her granddaughter was pouring Kellogg's All-Bran into a bowl one morning last fall when she did a double-take.

The happy, healthy white-haired senior on the box looked familiar.

"Grandma," the granddaughter said after rushing to the phone, "do you know you're on the box of All-Bran?"

Neufeld, a retired model who lives in Newtown, Bucks County, was skeptical until she saw the box. Then she remembered: In 1988, she had posed for such a picture while modeling in Doylestown. In fact, she had the model release.

She dug it up.

The language of the contract permitted Neufeld's photos to be used for "art, advertising, trade or any similar lawful purpose, except television, product packaging, billboards and point of purchase displays."

While Neufeld acknowledges the importance of bran -- she spent much of her modeling career posing for pictures pitching health-related products -- she firmly believes a contract is a contract.

And so, last week, Neufeld sued Michigan-based Kellogg's in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, alleging misappropriation of her likeness, false light, and unjust enrichment.

Kellogg's spokeswoman Jill Saletta said that she could not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in damages, the minimum amount in federal court. Neufeld's lawyer, Timothy M. Kolman, said he will not know how much his client's image is worth until he receives more information during pretrial discovery.

"We don't know how many All-Bran packages were sold with her likeness," he said.

Although Neufeld gave a brief interview, she declined to be photographed or to identify her granddaughter.

"I don't want to make this into a three-ring circus," she said.

Neufeld would not confirm her age, either. "She'd like to preserve her right to her feminine integrity with respect to that," her lawyer said.

Neufeld also grew nervous when asked a question likely to come up in depositions: "What do you eat for breakfast?"

After getting a green light from her lawyer, Neufeld said: "Not All-Bran."

Contact staff writer John Shiffman at 215-854-2658 or jshiffman@phillynews.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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