Brazilian legend Pele suing Samsung for $30 million over look-alike in newspaper ad

Legendary Brazilian forward Pele is suing South Korean multinational conglomerate company Samsung for $30 million over a look-alike printed in a newspaper ad.

The lawsuit is seeking at least $30 million, claiming the ad enriches Samsung while infringing on Pele’s publicity rights and diluting his brand value.

Pele’s lawyer, Frederick Sperling, said: “The goal is to obtain fair compensation for the unauthorised use of Pele’s identity and to prevent future unauthorised uses.”

Samsung and Pele were reportedly in negotiations for an ad campaign in 2013 before Samsung pulled out at the last minute.

The company subsequently published an ad in the New York Times in October showing the face of “a smiling man who very closely resembles Pele” next to a television displaying a soccer player making a “scissors-kick, [which was] perfected and famously used by Pele,” according to the filing.

The 75-year-old Pele has previously the face of Subway, Emirates and Viagra among others.