Magic Johnson is being sued because he is applying his name to a different prepaid card than the one he helped market in 2004, according to the New York Post.
Florida-based Celebrity Cards International filed a suit yesterday in Florida District court claiming the NBA Hall of Famer broke an agreement to market and sell a Magic Cash Card, and in turn made a similar deal with a competitor, OneWest Bank. The suit claims Celebrity Cards’ CEO Reed Wallace struck a deal with Johnson to market the cards with his image, and in 2004 sold 2,000 Magic Cards through direct response ads on TV. But shortly after, wrangling over ownership of the trademark began when Wallace’s company was bought
It would be easy to argue the celebrity market does not do well because while buying a shoe from a basketball player makes sense, no one has ever looked to NBA players for lessons in money management. But celebrity cards in general have a questionable value, considering even financial guru Suze Orman has not dominated the market with her card. Arguably, Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee Simmons have had some success, but the marketing around Unirush’s products has been on the value it delivers to the cardholder, not celebrity association.
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