Model sues Volvo for 'making her look like an escort' in new online ad

London, August 15 (ANI): A model is suing Volvo, her agency and Hertz corporation for 10millon dollars, over claims that she was made to look like an escort in the car company's latest web ad.

Carolyn Giles who is also a student at Columbia University, appears in a series of ads for Volvo, including one that appears on a dating website sponsored by the Swedish carmaker under the headline, 'Spend a night with Swedish model of your choice!'

The 23-year-old student, who models to pay for her tuition, claims she wasn't paid for the use of her photo in the online ad, and alleges it makes her 'appear that she may be an escort, with extreme sexual and inappropriate connotations and innuendos.'

While Giles, who is represented by Ford Models, was contracted with Volvo in 2007, the deal only allowed the use of her photograph in its S40 series campaign.

According to the lawsuit filed on Monday in Manhattan Civil Supreme Court, earlier this year, Giles learned that her image had appeared in advertisements for another Volvo model, the V50, throughout Europe, Asia and South America.

She then spotted her face on an Australian singles site sponsored by Volvo called Fast Impressions. The site had her face next to a 'Swedish model' headline with the captions 'rev up your love life', and 'book a test drive now, and who knows, this could be the start of a beautiful relationship (not just with Volvo)'.

"This looks like a picture out of an ad for the old Yellow Pages for an escort service. To use it in what's literally a sleazy and inappropriate way is just wrong," the Daily Mail quoted Giles lawyer, David Jaroslawicz, as saying.

The model is also suing Hertz, accusing the rental car company of using her photo in tourism brochures; and her agency Ford Models because it failed to protect her interests, the lawsuit said. (ANI)

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