Company says its product cast 'in unsavory light'

The company that makes In-Sink-Erator garbage disposers is suing NBC, claiming that an episode of the new show "Heroes" makes the product look bad.

Appliance maker Emerson filed the lawsuit in a St. Louis federal court Monday, seeking to block rebroadcasts of the "Heroes" pilot. In the episode, a high-school cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere) who has the ability to withstand injury sticks her hand into an In-Sink-Erator while it's running, mangling her fingers (which return to normal within a few seconds).

Emerson's suit claims the scene "casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product" by suggesting that serious injuries will result "in the event consumers were to accidentally insert their hand into one."

The suit, however, is more about NBC's use of the In-Sink-Erator name than the content of the scene, the company says. "It's a trademark thing," spokesman Dan Callahan tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

NBC hasn't commented on the suit.

Emerson is asking for a ruling barring future broadcasts of the pilot, which is available on NBC's website and has already aired on NBC Universal-owned cable networks USA and Sci Fi. It also seeks to block NBC from using any Emerson trademarks in the future.