Coca-Cola vs Johnny Cash is the weirdest advertising lawsuit of the year

Man drinking Coca-Cola.

It looks like it isn't only its controversial AI-generated Christmas ad that's landed Coca-Cola in trouble this festive season. The cola brand has also found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit filed by the estate of Johnny Cash.

The estate has accused Coca-Cola of 'pirating' the voice of the late singer in an ad campaign. Titled 'Fan Work is Thirsty Work', the ad features sports fans drinking Coca-Cola, soundtracked by a male singer whose voice sounds similar to that of Johnny Cash.

(Image credit: Coca-Cola)

But this time there's no AI trickery – the voice belongs to a Johnny Cash tribute act. According to The Independent, the lawsuit claims this voice represents "a pirated version of [Cash's voice]" which Coca-Cola used "in a “nationwide advertising campaign to enrich itself... without asking for permission or providing any compensation to the humble man and artist who created the goodwill from which Coca-Cola now profits."

But the lawsuit has sparked a debate over whether the use of an impersonator can be deemed 'pirating'.

"If they used AI to copy Johnny, get em for every penny. If they just hired a guy who sounds like Johnny Cash and did an entirely new recording unrelated to Johnny Cash..... then this is dumb," one Redditor comments, while another adds, "It's a tribute singer singing a song that cash did not write and never sang."

But there are plenty of examples of people famous voices successfully suing companies for mimicking them. In 1990, Tom Waits took Doritos to court for using a 'Waits', sound-alike on radio ads, leading to him being awarded $2.475 million in punitive damages. And the ELVIS act, passed last year, is designed specifically to protect artists from AI generated versions of their own voice.

Coca-Cols is being sued by the estate of Johnny Cash (Image credit: Beth Gwinn via Getty)

But as many have pointed out, it's unclear exactly where this one sits. There's no AI involved, and the voice in the Coca-Cola ad isn't claimed to be that of Cash, nor is the song his. But on the other hand, Coca-Cola specifically hired a Cash sound-alike, and the voice and song certainly sound like the Ring of Fire artist.

Time will tell how the lawsuit plays out, but one thing's for sure – this one isn't looking as clear-cut as some of the ridiculous design disputes we've seen in recent years.