Back to This Week in Music History: January 13 - 19
January 19, 1993: Tom Waits Defeats Copycats
Hulton Archive
In the first of what would be multiple instances over the years, Tom Waits took Frity-Lay potato chip company to court for hiring a soundalike to impersonate him in an ad and won, earning a $2.5 million payday.
Advertisers did not learn the lesson that Waits does NOT want his music in ads. Audi, Opel and Levi's have all attempted similar things in subsequent years... and lost.
