TORTS-INVASION OF RIGHT OF PRIVACY BY POSTCARD ADVERTISING

Authors

James S. Taylor, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

To promote the sale of merchandise, defendant retail clothing store mailed a series of postcards to prospective customers, one of which was the plaintiff. The cards, in feminine handwriting, read, ''Please call WAbash 1943 and ask for Carolyn." Upon reading this the plaintiff's wife, who had intercepted the card, concluded that her husband was having a clandestine love affair with another woman, and when the plaintiff was unable to explain "Carolyn," she left him. Subsequent inquiry revealed that "Carolyn" was one of the defendant's employees and that the card was an advertising stunt Plaintiff filed suit on the theory that mailing the card to him was an invasion of his right of privacy. Defendant's demurrer to the complaint was sustained. On appeal, held, affirmed. The contents of the card could not reasonably be construed as having a salacious meaning and did not constitute an invasion of the plaintiff's right of privacy. Perry v. Moskins Stores, (Ky. 1952) 249 S.W. (2d) 812.

Recommended Citation

James S. Taylor, TORTS-INVASION OF RIGHT OF PRIVACY BY POSTCARD ADVERTISING, 51 Mich. L. Rev. 613 (1953).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol51/iss4/21