Chubby Checker, the musician who launched a singing career doing "The Twist" is suing Hewlett Packard and its subsidiary Palm, Inc. over an app which claims to be able to estimate a man's penis length based on his shoe size.
The app, which has been downloaded a mere 84 times, has done "irreparable damage and harm" to Checker's name, the suit filed in St Lucie County Federal Court, Florida, states.
It adds the app associates Checker's name with "the obscene sexual connotation and images" of men's erect penises, rather than his illustrious musical history, TC Palm reports. (Btw "chubby" is slang for erection in some circles).
Chubby Checker on stage in Nashville in 2009
The lawsuit is filed under Checker's real name, Ernest Evans. The 71-year-old trademarked his stage name in 1997.
In a press release published on Market Watch, lawyer Willie Gary says: "This lawsuit is about preserving the integrity and legacy of a man who has spent years working hard at his musical craft and has earned the position of one of the greatest entertainers of all time.
"We cannot sit idly and watch as technology giants or anyone else exploits the name or likeness of an innocent person with the goal of making millions of dollars. The Defendants have marketed Chubby Checkers's name on their product to gain a profit and this just isn't right."
It adds Checker's estate (Ernest Evans Corp.) has received no compensation for the unauthorised use of the name.
The app was removed from all official Palm and Hewlett-Packard listings in September last year, the companies told WebOSNation.
But an old listing for the app lives on at House of Palm,a website which is not owned or associated with Palm Inc.
The less-than-enticing app blurb reads:
"Any of you ladies out there just start seeing someone new and wondering what the size of there (sic) member is. All you need to do is find out the man's shoe size and plug it in and don't worry where your (sick) from because The Chubby Checker supports shoe measurements of different regions and types. Now with The Chubby Checker there is no need for disappointment or surprise..."