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Johnny Cash’s estate has filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola for a commercial, for which the company allegedly hired a tribute singer to imitate the country music legend’s voice.
The ad began airing in August, and the complaint was filed this week in Nashville. It accuses the company of “pirating Johnny Cash’s voice in a nationwide advertising campaign to enrich itself – without asking for permission or providing any compensation.”
The estate filed the complaint under the state’s ELVIS Act, which went into effect last July. The act protects a person’s voice from nonconsensual exploitation.
“Stealing the voice of an artist is theft. It is theft of his integrity, identity and humanity,” wrote Tim Warnock of Loeb & Loeb, a lawyer for Cash’s estate. “The trust brings this lawsuit to protect the voice of Johnny Cash – and to send a message that protects the voice of all of the artists whose music enriches our lives.”
The ad, which plays between college football games, is performed by professional Cash impersonator Shawn Barker.
Check out the commercial below:
The complaint cites a 1988 ruling, the Midler v. Ford Motor Co., in which singer and actress Bette Midler won a dispute against the automaker company after it used a soundalike in an ad without her permission.
The estate has requested a court order blocking Coca-Cola from running the ad and unspecified monetary damages.
Coca-Cola has yet to comment on the matter.
A representative for Shawn Barker told Billboard magazine that his team was “thrilled when we were approached to have Shawn sing vocals for this commercial”.
His manager Joey Waterman said: “Shawn Barker has been performing with his Cash tribute The Man in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash for over two decades, touring the world sharing his love of Johnny Cash’s music and stories with fans both old and new.”
The case against Coca-Cola also recalls the time when Tom Waits took Doritos Chips to court for using a sound-alike in a series of ads.
Tracy-Locke, the ad agency in charge of making the commercial, also hired a musician named Stephen Carter to sing in the gravelly style of Waits.
The artist, well-known for having an aversion to deals with brands, sued Frito-Lay and Tracy-Locke for misappropriation of his voice and false endorsement. In 1990, the jury awarded him approximately $2.5 million in punitive damages.