Retired Air Force General Chuck Yeager, the pilot who first broke the speed of sound, has filed suit against Virgin America Airlines., claiming that the carrier has used his name in conjunction with an advertisement for Virgin’s new on-board wireless Internet access without his consent.

The press release issued by Virgin stated, “Not unlike Buzz Aldrin or Chuck Yeager, you have the opportunity to be part of a monumental moment in air travel.”

Yeager’s attorneys state in the suit that, “at no time did General Yeager give his permission to defendants.”

As a general rule, Yeager rarely allows the use of his name or image for commercial products or services, the lawsuit stated.

The suit seeks a court order preventing the company from continuing to use his name and for the profits earned by Virgin from using his name, as well as punitive damages.

Yeager was a fighter pilot in World War II, and later became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947.

As an Air Force test pilot, his career was highlighted in the 1979 book “The Right Stuff,” which was later made into a movie.

The other name in Virgin’s advertisement belongs to former astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, who walked on the moon as a member of the Apollo 11 crew.

Note: We have received some reports of people being unable to access this site today from TimeWarner/RoadRunner.  If you have had this problem, please let us know, with a comment below, or a note to info@awfulmarketing.com.  We are concerned that this is an effort to silence this story. Thank you!

Remember back in November, when we brought you this story about Kurt Greenbaum, a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who had a school employee fired over a comment on his newspaper’s blog?

Well, Mr. Greenbaum is back, and he seems to think that the Internet has a short memory, as he simply tries to return to his blog and Twitter account after a six-week hiatus with no mention of the incident or an apology for what he did.

Unfortunately, for Mr. Greenbaum, the Internet met his return yesterday with an overwhelmingly negative response on Twitter and other social media sites - so much so that it overwhelmed his server and took his Web site off-line for several hours.  Although Greenbaum does not seem to be allowing comments on his blog entries, the jabs against him on Twitter and social news aggregator Reddit were coming fast and furious in the late afternoon and evening.

Greenbaum seems clueless about the hate that his actions have stirred up on the Internet.  In fact, in a move that reeks of hubris, his most recent blog post outlines the job loss trends in the St. Louis area - does he not realize that HE IS RESPONSIBLE for one of those job losses?

Feel like telling Greenbaum and his bosses what you think about this?

Let the publisher know:
Kevin Mowbray - Publisher, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Phone: 314-340-8970
E-mail: kmowbray@post-dispatch.com

It looks like Apple and AT&T’s iPhone isn’t prepared for life in the Big Apple - at least not according to an AT&T representative named Daphne.

In this Consumerist article, it looks as if AT&T is no longer selling the iPhone online to customers who enter a Zip code assigned to the New York City Metro area.  It is unclear at this time if they have pulled them from store shelves in NYC as well.

A Consumerist reader gave this account of her experience with an AT&T customer service representative named Daphne:

I was on the AT&T Wireless website trying to get an iPhone. However, when I put in my zip code 11231, the site says the iPhone is unavailable. This seemed a little odd so I started punching in other famous zip codes: 90210, 60609 (spiegel catalog), 02134 (zoom, an old children’s show).For theses cities, LA, Chicago, Boston, iPhone is available. Then I looked up some other zip codes: Dallas, Miami, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco. All those cities are ok. Then I started putting in more NYC zip codes: midtown, Staten Island, the Bronx…no iPhone available.

This is weird…AT&T has cut off New York City.

They even contacted AT&T support to verify the problem:

Daphne (AT&T):  Welcome to AT&T online Sales support. How may I assist you with placing your order today?

Laura: Hi, I was looking at the iPhone 3Gs and the system tells me that I cannot order one in my ZIP code. My zip code is 11231. (Brooklyn, NY) Is this true? Are iPhones no longer available in New York City?

Daphne (AT&T): I am happy to be helping you today . Yes, this is correct the phone is not offered to you because New York is not ready for the iPhone.

Daphne (AT&T): You don’t have enough towers to handle the phone.

Laura: Thank you for your help. So the phone is not available to people anywhere in the city?

Daphne (AT&T): Yes this is correct Laura.

If this is true, it sure doesn’t bode well for AT&T, especially on the heels of operation Chokehold earlier this month!

Not much more that we can say about this, other than to point you to the sad story of Maxwell “Toot”, a cute little dog in Texas who was killed when a Sears delivery driver refused to stop in his owner’s driveway.

A member of the owner’s family had held up his hand, and while the driver initially stopped, he continued after pausing, and ran over the dog. Sears’ excuse was that, “most dogs move out of the way.” Yes, someone from Sears actually said that.

Read the account here, and don’t forget to let Sears know what you think of this:

Contact Sears: (847) 286-2500 [Executive Customer Service line]

Update: Wells Fargo donates $25,000 to help animals on foreclosed farm.

When Dan MacKenzie, a Glocester, Rhode Island farmer, lost his property to foreclosure earlier this week, the bank that repossessed the farm - Wells Fargo - refused to allow MacKenzie access to the buildings to care for the animals that were housed inside.

Wells Fargo Bank also refused the help of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RISPCA), telling the Society that it would make arrangements to care of the animals itself.

Dr. Ernest Finocchio, the president of the RISPCA visited MacKinzie’s property on Tuesday, and discovered that many of the animals, including eight horses and two pigs, had not had any water to drink.

Finocchio placed a bucket of water in front of the horses, and seven of the eight horses drank from the bucket without any hesitation, an indication that they had not been given any water in a long time.

Until Wells Fargo allows MacKenzie back onto the property, students from the University of Rhode Island’s veterinary care program are helping the RISPCA care for the animals.

Let Wells Fargo know what you think about their behavior in this case:
Call Wells Fargo: 888-818-9147