Michael Jordan v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
743 F.3d 509 (2014)
When Michael Jordan (plaintiff) was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Sports Illustrated offered Jewel Food Stores (defendant) free advertising space in a commemorative Jordan issue in exchange for Jewel selling the issue in its Chicago-area stores. Jewel accepted and ran a full-page ad featuring its trademarked logo and slogan above an image of basketball shoes bearing Jordan's jersey number, with text praising Jordan's career and incorporating Jewel's own slogan. Jordan sued for violation of his right of publicity. Jewel argued the ad was noncommercial speech fully protected by the First Amendment, and the district court agreed, entering judgment for Jewel; Jordan appealed.
Whether speech that does not explicitly propose a commercial transaction may still amount to commercial speech if it implicitly promotes a commercial message or serves a commercial function.