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

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75-year old Pele, whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is considered by many to be the best player of all time and he now makes his money from endorsements. It is alleged that Samsung ran the advertisement after breaking off negotiations in 2013 to use Pele's image to promote its goods.

The legendary footballer 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. According to the complaint, the ad - which does not name Pele - includes a facial photo of a man who "very closely resembles" him, and also a small picture of a footballer making a "modified bicycle or scissors-kick, perfected and famously used by Pele".

 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” . 

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