September 13, 2011

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have several claims to fame: They are Olympians, were the plaintiffs in a notorious series of lawsuits against Facebook, and had their legal battle against the world’s most popular social networking site dramatized in the hit movieThe Social Network.

Here’s one more distinction to add to the list: they are the stars of a new commercial for pistachios.

The ad for Wonderful Pistachios features the twins–dressed in their trademark outfit, matching suits and ties–sitting before a bowl of nuts and includes a not-so-subtle jab at their legal troubles with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The Winklevoss twins have sued Zuckerberg on several occasions on the grounds that the CEO of Facebook, a classmate of theirs at Harvard, stole their idea for a social networking site. The twins were awarded a cash and stock settlement in 2008, butsued again, and nearly took their appeal to the Supreme Court.

The ad shows one “Mr. Winklevoss” snapping open a pistachio. His brother points at him and remarks, “Hey, that’s a good idea.”

“Cracking it like that,” the second “Mr. Winklevoss” adds. “It could be huge.”

“Think someone will steal it?” his brother replies, alluding to their legal troubles with Facebook.

“Who’d do that?” they ask in unison.

Other Wonderful Pistachios ads have featuredSnooki (who’s shown cracking her pistachio in a tanning bed), Chad Ochocinco, ”Keyboard Cat” of viral video fame, and even Angry Birds.

The Winklevoss twins’ most recent public kerfuffle was with former Harvard President Larry Summers, who referred to the brothers as “a**holes” during an interview.

“One of the things you learn as a college president is that if an undergraduate is wearing a tie and jacket on Thursday afternoon at three o’clock, there are two possibilities. One is that they’re looking for a job and have an interview; the other is that they are an asshole,” Summers said during an interview at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference. “This was the latter case. Rarely, have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in kind.”

In response, the twins issued a lengthy and strongly-worded open letter to Summers.

Related posts:

1. Facebook Says New Evidence Proves Paul Ceglia Doesn’t Own Half Of Facebook
2. Randi Zuckerberg leaves Facebook to launch new firm
3. Oprah Will Do a Live Interview on Facebook Next Week
4. Hearing on Facebook Privacy takes place amidst heated discussion
5. How Facebook Really Won the Social Media War: Viral Marketing Lessons from The Social Network

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