Michael Bay Sues Cadillac F1 Over Super Bowl Ad as Team Cites Timeline Issues

Overview

• Bay’s 19-page complaint alleges breach of contract, breach of implied-in-fact contract, goods and services rendered, and fraud.
• He contends he was informally engaged, then told the project would go a different direction before elements of his ideas appeared in the finished spot.
• The director says he showed owner Dan Towriss a Transformers clip featuring John F. Kennedy’s 1962 moon speech and desert visuals drawn from his films.
• Cadillac says it met with Bay only a couple of times, found he could not meet the timeline, and maintains the concept was already developed as it explored him solely as a potential director.
• Towriss has said the JFK narration reflected the team’s message of determination and that the ad’s focus was keeping the car as the star of the piece.