Veteran Footballer Pele Sues Samsung $30million for using his Lookalike in their Ad

HAVANA, CUBA – JUNE 01: Pele answers questions during a press conference for the New York Cosmos versus Cuba match on June 1, 2015 in Havana, Cuba. (Photo by Elsa/New York Cosmos/Getty Images)

75-year old Pele, who now makes his money from endorsements, has taken tech giant Samsung to court for using his lookalike in an ad campaign.

The legendary footballer (real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento) and Samsung had been in talks since 2013 about an ad campaign, but according to a lawsuit filed by Pele’s lawyers this month, Samsung backed out at the last minute.

The lawsuit stated that Samsung then went ahead to publish an ad in the New York times in October with the picture of “a smiling man who very closely resembles Pele”. The man’s face was next to a television screen displaying a footballer making a scissors kick, one that the filing said was “perfected and famously used by” himself.

Pele’s lawyer Fred Sperling told CNNMoney in an email that “The goal is to obtain fair compensation for the unauthorized use of Pele’s identity and to prevent future unauthorized uses” .