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A University of Tennessee student has filed a lawsuit after claiming her TikTok video was used without permission in ads for a dating app promoting “friends with benefits.”
Kaelyn Lunglhofer alleges that Quantum Communications used her content to promote its app Meete, presenting her as a potential match in suggestive, geo-targeted advertisements.
The lawsuit claims the ads featured her graduation video while a narrator asked viewers if they were “looking for a friend with benefits,” adding that the app shows women nearby “who are looking for some fun.”
Student says she was “embarrassed” after seeing ad
Lunglhofer said she only became aware of the ad after another student recognized her and sent it to her.
“I opened the video, and it was like a nasty hook-up app-like advertisement,” she told local outlet WATE.
“They’re making me look like a prostitute,” she added in a video interview with WKRN. “It was horrible, I felt so embarrassed.”
According to the complaint, the ads were targeted at users in the Knoxville area, making it appear as though local women, including Lunglhofer, were active on the platform.
Her attorney, Abe Pafford, said the alleged use of her likeness without consent raises serious concerns.
“For what this app is selling, to sort of enlist a teenager as an involuntary spokesperson for their product without consent, without permission, and then to target people around her with that ad to try to deceive them, is about as bad as it gets in terms of this type of conduct,” he said.
“They could have as easily taken a similar video from someone 17 or 16 or 15 — and as long as it served their purposes, I think they would use it,” he added.
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Lunglhofer is seeking at least $750,000 in damages. Court filings state that Meete has around 17 million users worldwide.
She said the lawsuit is about more than money and is intended to hold the company accountable.
“I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this,” Lunglhofer said.
