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A Colorado artist was arrested Wednesday for replacing Gatorade labels with his own "pop art" version; the labels feature a picture of Tiger Woods, his wife Elin Nordegren and the word "Unfaithful". |
DENVER — "Good for Gatorade and good for art" - that's the pitch Colorado artist Jason Kay emailed to parent company PepsiCo before being arrested Wednesday. The 38-year-old Kay thought his "pop art" Gatorade labels would "get people talking about how stupid the whole thing with Tiger Woods is," but instead the artist faces a maximum of five years in prison and up to $450,000 in fines.
The unemployed Kay replaced the labels on one-quart bottles of Tropical Mango Gatorade with his own version; a picture of Tiger Woods, his wife Elin Nordegren and the word "unfaithful" printed in bold black capital letters. Kay then snuck the bottles back onto shelves at various stores in the Denver area.
According to an affidavit filed by the Food and Drug Administration, Kay told federal agents, "I didn't think this was a big deal." Kay compares the Gatorade bottle labels to pop art and claims the stunt was his attempt at emulating Andy Warhol. In fact, Kay was hoping to work out a partnership with the beverage firm wherein they would "participate unofficially (while denying this connection) by providing support to [Kay] for travel and per diem in various cities."
Gatorade was a major sponsor of Tiger Woods but ended their endorsement after news of the golfer's alleged infidelities broke in December. Kay has been charged with misbranding and altering food labels with intent to seriously harm a person's business.
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