Bet you thought Apple wouldn't have to deal with much fallout from the ILOVEYOU virus, right? Mac users are fairly immune to that particular bug, after all, so the whole thing should have been pretty much a non-issue to Apple and its customer base. Instead, though, it looks like Apple's formidable legal team has been pulled into a Love Bug-related fray-- with one of the company's own supporters. "Share the strife," we always say.

According to MacNN, a German ad agency named Springer & Jacoby cooked up a little Apple spot of its own: the full-page print ad simply says, "Dear Windows user: 'We love you!'" and includes the Apple logo and the "Think different" slogan underneath. As far as ads go, it's relatively subtle; it digs at Windows users who struggled with ILOVEYOU infection while implying that Mac users had no such problems. At least, that's the intent; we can think of plenty of other interpretations, such as "Dear Windows user: we were the ones who made that virus," "Dear Windows user: we're laughing at your pain, so feel free to hate us," and "Dear Windows user: if you didn't catch the ILOVEYOU reference, you think this is a desperate plea for attention." Oh yeah, and here's one more: "Dear virus-writers: ILOVEYOU meant nothing to the Mac; betcha can't harm our platform, nyaah nyaah nyaah."

The possibility of misinterpretations is just one of the reasons that, when asked whether Springer & Jacoby could run the ad, Apple said no. (There's also the fact that Apple's logo and slogan appear prominently at the bottom of the page, making it look like a sanctioned Apple campaign, while Springer & Jacoby's name only appears sideways in tiny letters in the top right corner of the page.) But the ad agency apparently didn't take "no" for an answer, and ran it anyway; the full-page ad appeared on Wednesday in a prominent German newspaper. Apple is, understandably, a bit miffed. Miffed enough to "release the hounds" in the legal department, at least, to nail Springer & Jacoby for misappropriating Apple's trademarks.

Now, we know that there are going to be plenty of Mac fans unhappy with Apple for suing over this ad, but frankly, we can't fault them at all on this one. Springer & Jacoby asked for permission, Apple said no, and the ad agency ran the ad anyway. The ad blatantly passes itself off as coming from Apple when it does not. And it could potentially attract the ire of both Windows users who just think Apple's being snotty and virus writers who suddenly see a new challenge before them. When all's said and done, though, it is a pretty cool ad-- too bad the circumstances are so lousy.