Thursday, April 3, 2025

Beverage firm ordered to share Johnnie Walker revenues with actor

The Mexican subsidiary of a British multinational alcoholic beverage company has been ordered to compensate actor Gael García Bernal after using his image without authorization in a 2011 advertising campaign.

The Supreme Court ruled that Diageo México must pay García 40% of the revenue it obtained from sales of Johnnie Walker whisky during the period that its caminando con gigantes (walking with giants) campaign ran in September and October 2011.

It is unclear how much the Golden Globe-winning actor will receive.

Known for his appearances in films such as the Oscar-winning Babel, The Motorcycle Diaries and Wasp Network, García filed a lawsuit against the company in 2013. Eight years later, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor.

Under federal copyright law, the use of a person’s image in an advertising campaign without his or her permission is illegal.

With reports from Infobae 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum stands at the presidential podium looking out at an audience off-camera with her fist raised and her mouth open as if cheering. Behind her is a wall with the words in Spanish: Plan Mexico, Strenghtening the Economy and Well-Being, Mexico City April 3, 2025.

Sheinbaum unveils an even more ambitious version of her transformative Plan México

2
Sheinbaum said the projects she announced as part of Plan México will bring about more well-paid employment, less poverty and inequality, greater investment and production and more innovation.
A clear-cut strip of land cuts through the jungle along the Maya Train route in Yucatán

Government promises restoration plan for Maya Train environmental damage

0
Government officials said the track's builders will be responsible for funding a restoration effort that includes reforestation and improving natural migration corridors.
Cans of Cororna Extra beer lying on a bed of large ice cubes

Trump announces new US tariffs on Mexican… beer

15
Mexico didn't end up on Donald Trump's "liberation day" list of enemy countries, although the U.S. did impose tariffs on a surprising Mexican item: beer in cans.