Tom Waits Sues Companies For Using Soundalikes

Tom Waits has filed a lawsuit against a car company and a German advertising agency for allegedly using a soundalike in their ads. The gravel-voiced singer filed the civil lawsuit in Frankfurt this week against Adam Opel AG and advertisers McGann Erickson. Apparently Waits was approached on a number of occasions asking to lend his voice to the commercials but refused. Waits’ lawyer Andreas Schumacher claims the companies then hired a soundalike to for the ads which were aired in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. The singer is seeking damages for any monies gained from the ads and for breaching his personal rights.

As Yahoo reports, Waits said in a statement: “Apparently the highest compliment our culture grants nowadays is to be in an ad – ideally naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honour.”

“While the court can’t make me active in radio, I am asking it to make me radioactive to advertisers.”

source: Gigwise