Twenty-one year old tennis star Maria Sharapova not only endorses Canon PowerShot cameras, but she’s recently signed on with Sony Ericsson as its “first global brand ambassador.”

Ending her three-year run with Canon, Maria Sharapova today pledged her allegiance to Sony Ericsson. Besides undertaking a series of new consumer-brand campaigns off the court, the international tennis star will also be working with the Japanese-Swedish company’s designers on “a range of products and accessories,” according to the press release.

And guess what phone she’s using now? The Sony Ericsson W350i.

The W350i is a sleek slide phone that comes with a walkman player, a 1.3-megapixel camera and internet/email functionality.

Maria Sharapova - Sony Ericsson Ads

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The launch was held at London’s Kensington Roof Gardens.
Maria revealed herself to be a fan of British 4×4s, saying at the launch: “Since I was 15 and first saw Land Rovers in the US I have admired their unique design and Britishness. I currently have Range Rovers, but I’m a big fan of the new Freelander 2.”

Maria Sharapova At Landrover Launch

Pictures source: Celebutopia.Net

The wind got a hold of Maria Sharapova’s short skirt while launching the new Land Rover the all-new Freelander 2. Uh..almost upskirt problem for Maria Sharapova.

A top advertising executive who allegedly enjoyed photographing the crotches of unsuspecting females, snapped a close-up shot of Maria Sharapova’s nether region as the tennis star posed for a Canon camera ad, according to a new lawsuit. In the complaint, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in New York, Steve Biegel charges that he was fired by Dentsu Holdings, the giant Japanese advertising agency, after complaining about the photographic hobby of Toyo Shigeta, the firm’s CEO, who allegedly distributed the Sharapova photo to subordinates. Included as an exhibit to Biegel’s lawsuit, which alleges a variety of other lewd behavior on the part of Shigeta and other Dentsu executives, is the purported photo of Sharapova, which can be seen below. The image, Biegel contends, was surreptitiously snapped by Shigeta in April 2005 during a break in the filming of a Canon commerical at a tennis center in Key Biscayne, Florida. According to Biegel, a Dentsu creative director who oversaw the Canon ad campaign, Shigeta used a telephoto lens to take the “crotch shot.” In fact, Biegel alleges, Shigeta “proudly” gave him an electronic copy of the Sharapova photo (which is now Exhibit B in the federal discrimination lawsuit). Biegel contends that while Sharapova was unaware that she was being photographed by Shigeta, he and the athelete’s makeup woman realized what was going on. Through a Dentsu spokesperson, Shigeta denied taking the Sharapova photo. The ad firm branded Biegel’s allegations “outrageous” and said it would file a counterclaim for libel and fraud. (7 pages)
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