NEW YORK – A man is being sued for trademark infringement after he towed a 25-foot-long fake missile around Manhattan with the words "Viva Viagra" printed in blue on its sides.
An attorney for Viagra-maker Pfizer Inc., Paul Llewellyn, said during a court hearing Tuesday that the man's use of the company's logo could confuse consumers into thinking the rocket was an actual advertisement for the drug used to treat male impotence.
But 48-year-old Arye Sachs said no one would be deterred from buying the blue pills because of he what he did, The New York Post reported Wednesday. He says he knows because he's a "customer."
Sachs, an Israeli-born aircraft collector and mobile-billboard entrepreneur, hauled the missile on a trailer hitched to his car through Manhattan, where he parked it in front of the Trump Tower on Sept. 8. He also drove it past Pfizer's headquarters.
To explain why he did it, Sachs said during a court hearing Tuesday: "Once in a while you want to have fun, and that's what it's all about: fun."
Federal Judge William Pauley III expressed disbelief that Sachs, who lives on nearby Long Island, was able to bring the missile through a busy tunnel into the city.
Sachs said officials just laughed when he drove through. He said he drove the fake missile through another city tunnel five times and was stopped only twice.
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