A&P THREATENS EX EMPLOYEES WITH MILLION DOLLAR SUIT

NEWS JOURNAL, DE - It has already cost them their jobs. Now, the fictitious music video "Produce Paradise," created by two Hunterdon County brothers as a way to parody the outlandishness of gangster rap by using veggies as props, could cost them $1 million. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., parent company of the supermarket chain A&P, recently filed a defamation lawsuit in state Superior Court in Flemington against college students Mark and Matthew D'Avella, who until recently stocked shelves at the Califon A&P.

In its Aug. 24 suit, the company claims the fictitious video has prompted at least one complaint by a "disgusted and distressed" customer who said she will no longer shop at A&P thanks to the "repulsive acts" in the video, which is currently posted on YouTube and the brothers' own Web site, www.fakelaugh.com.

In the 4-minute, 16-second video, Mark D'Avella, 22, and Matthew D'Avella, 19, are shown in the Califon supermarket smacking each other in the crotch with beets, standing with bananas sticking out of their jeans and pretending to urinate on produce in a stock room. . .

As of Monday night, the video had been viewed 2,522 times since it was first posted Aug. 6.

Fearing damaged customer relations and the possibility of lost profits due to the "disparaging and false statements" in the video, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea demands at least $1 million in damages and asks for a judge to require the brothers to remove their video from the Web.

Prior to filing the suit, A&P suspended the D'Avellas on Aug. 16 before firing them Aug. 23, claiming the brothers violated various company policies.

In response, the brothers maintain a blog on FakeLaugh that chronicles their trouble and provides a link for supporters to complain to A&P headquarters in Montvale. The duo also plan to sell Fresh Beets T-shirts that may help support their impending legal fight.

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