Pelé is suing Samsung for $30 million, where he claims that the company used a lookalike of himself in a newspaper ad to promote its televisions.
The ad does not directly refer to Pelé, but in the ad, you see soccer on the television where a player is attempting a”modified bicycle or scissor-kick, perfected and famously used by Pelé,” according to the Financial Times, with the lookalike to the left of it.
The lawsuit says that the ad will confuse consumers, along with hurting the value of his endorsement rights. The soccer legend has endorsement deals with Volkswagen, Subway, Emirates and Procter and Gamble.
The claim by Pelé isn’t just out of thin air, the two sides were actually in negotiations in 2013 to use Pelé’s image in 2013, but discussions broke off after Samsung pulled out. As NBC News reports, Samsung, “never obtained the right to use Pele’s identity in any manner or in any format.”
Pelé also might have the best attorney for the job in Fred Sperling. Sperling is the same attorney who famously helped Michael Jordan win his case against the former supermarket chain Dominick’s, where Jordan was rewarded $8.9 million.
“The goal is to obtain fair compensation for the unauthorized use of Pele’s identity and to prevent future unauthorized uses,” Sperling said via NBC News.
