The association between Fiat and actress and singer Jennifer Lopez is set to become a future "case study" on how not to conduct celebrity product endorsements. The lowest point so far in this autumn and winter campaign that has so far appeared to hand all the exposure to Lopez while pushing the Fiat 500 and its attributes backstage, was a 60-second spot, released in in early October, dubbed "My World", where Fiat claimed that she was actually driving a 500 from Manhattan to the Bronx, while celebrating and taking inspiration from her "roots".

As it turned out, this heavily cliché-riddled journey wasn't Lopez's "My World", Fiat was able to fool the media for a month, but it was discovered that her scenes were actually filmed in Los Angeles and then slipped into the advert, with a body double driving the Fiat 500 through the Bronx.

Matters simply got worse as it was discovered that the Fiat 500 actually broke down during the filming, pictures with the bonnet up hit the internet, and then in a final twist a commercial team of graffiti artists were included in the spot without obtaining their permission.

Unfortunately Fiat failed to realise that the graffiti artists that were featured in the spot were actually a professional organisation called Tats Cru. This is given away by the introduction page on their website: "Tats Cru, Inc. is a group of Bronx – based professional muralists whose work in aerosol has challenged the perception of graffiti as art. Twenty-four years ago, three teenagers began their artistic careers by creating subway graffiti. What began as a recognition tactic has evolved into a powerful, expressive style that has brought Tats Cru to the forefront of Mural art. Tats Cru has spearheaded the battle to change peoples perception of graffiti art. Proof of their success and the acceptance of graffiti as an art form has been their work for the Smithsonian’s Institute 35th annual Folklife Festival where Tats Cru was chosen to represent New York City Muralists. Tats Cru’s work now adorns several NYC Public Schools and hospitals. In addition to their work reaching new heights, Thats Cru has also lectured at Hunter College, M.I.T. University of Massachusetts, Cortlandt University, Brooks School and many community based organizations. Tats Cru’s work has been featured in the New York Times, New York magazine, USA Today, Vibe, Associated Press, The Chicago Tribune, Mass Appeal and many others. Their art has been included in such books as Spray Can Art, The Art of Getting Over and R.I.P Memorial Wall for which Tats Cru mural was chosen as the cover art."

The group were vocally unhappy in the media about a possible breach of copyright over the featuring of their mural by Fiat in the spot and one member of Tats Cru, Wilfredo Feliciano, 45, spoke to the Washington Post which reported him as telling them that "no one from the group was contacted before Fiat ran the shot of the graffiti, which he said has been copyrighted." Feliciano was also quoted as saying: "Everyone started congratulating us on the commercial and we’re like, what commercial?"

That mistake by Fiat just added to the train wreck that the misjudged advert has caused; however threatened legal action by Tats Cru has now been settled. "The Fiat brand recently learned of a copyright issue involving a graffiti mural created by the Bronx-based artists Tats Cru, which appeared in the background of a Fiat commercial," a Chrysler Group spokesperson Dianna Gutierrez said yesterday. "It is the company’s standard protocol to require that its ad agencies conduct the necessary due diligence to ensure that all trademarks and copyrights are respected in the course of producing our advertisements. We are pleased to announce that the parties have reached an amicable resolution to this matter. Details of this agreement are confidential."

ItaliaspeedTV: "My World" - Fiat 500 TV Advert featuring Jennifer Lopez