CORNER:Determining the correct face value

The appellate court ruled that one of the factors that the next jury to hear this case must consider is whether Christoff should have noticed his mug on the Taster's Choice jars within the two-year statute of limitations, which brings me back to my first point.

I remember a number of years ago writing in to the old Ken and Bob show, which was a morning radio show on KABC-AM starring Ken Minyan and the late Bob Arthur. They had done a story on whether a gentleman who was driving a hearse with a dead body in it qualified for use of the carpool lane. They treated the subject in an amusing way, and I did a little research and sent them a letter giving them my whimsical take on the subject.

About a week after I sent the letter, I got several telephone calls from friends who told me that at 5:35 a.m. on a given morning, Ken and Bob read my letter on the air and joked about it. Now, at 5:35 in the morning I am generally fast asleep, so there is no way I would have heard it. However, I guess I am fortunate enough to have friends who are up at that hour to hear it and call me and tell me what I missed.

Which brings me back to Christoff. His was the face of Taster's Choice Instant Coffee for six years before he sees it at a Rite Aid? And where the heck were his friends, co-workers, family members, or anyone else who might have known him for these six years, and why did no one give him a call one day and say something along the lines of, "Hey Russell, is that you on the Taster's Choice coffee jars?"

In 2003, Nestlé decided to replace Christoff's picture with that of model James Vaccaro, who was paid $15,000 a year for 10 years for the use of his face on the coffee. And of course, that is what Nestlé should have done with Christoff at the beginning: They should have contacted him and negotiated with him to see whether they could reach a dollar figure that all would be happy with so they could use Christoff to further the advertisement of their product and Christoff could make some money for the use of his visage.

So, it's back to the drawing board as Christoff does not get the $15 million, but he does get to try again. I would hope that this case settles before it goes to trial a second time. The reality is, Nestlé did the wrong thing by using his face without compensating him, but $15 million does seem a little bit steep unless team Christoff can prove that he was responsible for that amount of additional profit for Nestlé.