Michael Bay, the renowned film director, has initiated legal action against Cadillac, alleging that the car company plagiarized his concepts and work for their Super Bowl 60 advertisement featuring the prominent driver, 'Checo' Pérez. The lawsuit claims breach of contract and fraud, suggesting that Cadillac failed to pay Bay for the use of his ideas. According to reports from The Athletic, Bay was approached by Cadillac's CEO Dan Towriss in November 2025 to direct the commercial.

The legal documents reveal that during a preliminary Webex call before officially hiring Bay, Towriss discussed various concepts for the ad, including references to historical speeches and potential backgrounds, which Bay argued were similar to elements he had used in his own films like Transformers 3 and Armageddon. He asserts that he submitted his interpretation just two days later, only to be informed by Towriss that he was officially onboard with the project. However, Bay contends that his ideas were then appropriated without appropriate recognition or compensation, leading to the current lawsuit.

This case highlights larger issues of intellectual property in the advertising industry, particularly the fine line between inspiration and plagiarism. As the film director seeks damages, it raises questions about the rights of creators when their original concepts are co-opted without consent. The outcome of this lawsuit may set precedents for how contracts are honored in promotional collaborations and the protection of creative ideas in non-traditional settings such as commercial advertising.