E*Trade's Ugly Creative Process on "Lindsay" Ad Shows That Even Agency Jokes Don't Remain Secret

(MoneyWatch)  What started as an easy-win case for E*Trade -- when Lindsay Lohan sued the company for using the name "Lindsay" in its Super Bowl ad -- is now looking more like it will become an ugly brawl. Executives at E*Trade's ad agency discussed whether the baby named "Lindsay" in its ads was a reference to Lohan before the ad aired, Esquire reports.

While that alone doesn't prove Lohan's case, which is almost certainly frivolous and already the subject of theories that Lohan herself has little to do with it, it does show that agencies can't assume that their internal processes will always remain a secret, or even that everyone else will see the world the way they do.

If Lohan can survive summary judgment, execs at E*Trade and its ad agency may find themselves sitting through some uncomfortable depositions about why they switched the name of the "milkaholic" baby girl character to "Lindsay," which, as Lohan's lawyers point out, are similar to the star's "name, characterization, and personality."

Lohan is suing E*Trade for $100 million claiming the company used her name and image without permission. The ads were made by Grey Group, an agency owned by WPP (WPPGY) in New York. A script from the agency shows the character's name being changed from "Deborah" to "Lindsay," in addition to a number of other misogynistic insults that could be used to insult the Lindsay character. Grey and E*Trade (ETFC) eventually went with "milkaholic" in the ad that aired:

An Esquire writer who sat in on the creative process before the ad aired on the Super Bowl in February wrote:

... while E-Trade had been consulted on Grey's changing the disputed character's name to Lindsay, the celebrity parallel was dismissed early on. In December, I asked Grey's chief creative officer, Tor Myrhen, whether "Lindsay" was a reference to Lohan. "Not at all. I don't think we even thought of it at the time," he told me. "Every aspect of that commercial was discussed in endless meetings with E-Trade. But we decided to keep it."

It's not probative, but it shows that Grey was aware that some people might think the baby was Lohan before the aid aired.

The script also shows that Grey creative executives considered calling the Lindsay baby a "skanky cake," "pudge muffin," "jail bait," floosbag," and ""flank steak," among other insults. Obviously, the page was never meant for public consumption and the creative process is often messy, freewheeling, and open-ended. Still, this was an ad featuring babies, in which a baby girl is the butt of insults implying that she's a promiscuous. It's all rather unpleasant.

Related:

• Lindsay Lohan's E*Trade Suit Parallels the Decline of Her Career in Advertising