Sound-Alike Commercials Are Part of Sports’ Soundtrack

“Johnny Cash” for Coca-Cola is the latest in a long litany of sonic approximations

The convergence of sports and entertainment has generally been a positive dynamic, the huge attraction of each synergistically propelling deeper fan engagement onscreen and in the venue. Not surprisingly, however, that convergence can occasionally turn into a collision.

That’s what happened when Coca-Cola engaged a sound-alike singer to mimic the signature gravelly voice of country-music legend Johnny Cash for a college-football commercial spot.

The ad drew the ire of Cash’s estate, which last week filed the first major case to come under Tennessee’s Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act (ELVIS) Act. The tortuously named legislation is intended to expand the state’s statutory right of publicity to also protect a person’s voice from being exploited.

Per industry trades Variety and Billboard, the manager of the late singer’s estate, the John R. Cash Revocable Trust, cited the song in the commercial, which has been airing during college football games this season. In the lawsuit, the estate asserts that the voice in the ad sounds “remarkably” like Cash’s and that it is the voice of Shawn Barker, a professional Cash tribute performer.

Going the Distance

The 30-second spot, titled “Go the Distance” and the centerpiece of a new 360-degree fall sports-marketing campaign created with Cartwright and Superprime Films, has been airing since last August during NCAA and other college football games. The ad has been running on NBC, TNT, ESPN, TBS, TRUTV, ABC, FOX, FS1, BTN, and ESPN2. It’s part of a larger campaign that also includes in-stadium promotions and outdoor advertising.

The spot’s music production is credited to The Crystal Creative, a Portland, OR-based “custom music, supervision, sound, and mix agency.” Executive Producer Chad North is credited as the composer.

“Stealing the voice of an artist is theft,” said a lawyer for Cash’s estate, Loeb & Loeb’s Tim Warnock, in a statement. “It is theft of his integrity, identity, and humanity. … 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.”

More specifically, the complaint contends, “This case arises from Coca-Cola’s pirating Johnny Cash’s voice 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.”

Been There, Sung That

Sound-alike recordings have been a staple of television commercials for decades. They’re intended to imitate the sound of a popular record or the style of a popular music artist. Their other goal, less obvious, is to avoid having to pay costly licensing fees for the recordings or artists they’re trying to evoke.

These instances have often ended up in litigation. For instance, in 1985, automaker Mercury commissioned a sound-alike of Bette Midler’s version of the classic song “Do You Want To Dance,” sung by a former back-up singer in her troupe. The case, Midler v. Ford Motor Company, argued that using a voice impersonator without the original artist’s permission constituted appropriation of her personality rights. The court ruled in Midler’s favor.

The issue is persistent. A little over a decade ago, rock band the Black Keys successfully settled no fewer than three sound-alike lawsuits within a year over the unlicensed approximation of their music in commercials by defendants Home Depot, Pizza Hut, and a casino.

The matter likely won’t disappear anytime soon. A Pitchfork article on the topic concluded that most musicians, copyright holders, and others with a stake in original versions hold the practice in disdain: “Advertisers can keep their costs low by commissioning cheap knock-offs, safe in the knowledge that the legal costs of holding them accountable remain largely prohibitive to all but the Eminem-sized behemoths of the industry.”

What’s equally likely is that the power of popular music will remain a siren song for advertisers, and those dodgy soundtracks will continue to end up on sports shows for the foreseeable future.