Homage Or Infringement?


Either way, their chili sucks.

From the Associated Press :

A man sued Campbell Soup Co. and an advertising firm over an ad that allegedly misappropriated his late father's voice — a deep baritone that long served as the dramatic voice of NFL Films.

John Facenda Sr., who died in 1984, was a prominent Philadelphia newscaster whose deep tone was dubbed the "voice of God."

His son, John Facenda Jr., charged in a federal lawsuit that Campbell Soup spoke to him in May, seeking permission to use a "sound-alike" narrator in radio and television ads for Chunky Chili this NFL season. The company later said it was changing course, Facenda said.

But Facenda, the heir to his father's estate, said he was watching television on Aug. 30 when he heard a familiar baritone in the ad, which promotes Campbell's chili for football tailgating parties.

Campbell's spokesman John Faulkner said the commercial was voiced by a man with a similar — but "not a sound-alike" — voice. Faulkner identified the voice in the commercial as that of Earl Mann, one of three people hired since Facenda's 1984 death to serve as an official NFL voice.

"The only voice that is universally associated with NFL Films is that of John Facenda," said Facenda's lawyer, Tracy Paul Hunt.

Faulkner declined comment on the lawsuit, saying he had not seen it. However, he noted that Campbell's is the official soup of the NFL.

Posted: Tue - September 14, 2004 at 07:37 PM      

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