Name: George Clooney.
Age: 54.
Appearance: Deceiving, allegedly.
How so? Because the celebrated coffee pod salesman is not all he seems.
Coffee pod salesman? George Clooney is an actor, director, producer and screenwriter with two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and a Bafta to his name. That’s him – the guy in the coffee ads.
He’s also one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, and a noted political activist and humanitarian. Yes, he keeps himself busy – but only his role as the handsome face of Nespresso need concern us here.
Why? Because Clooney – brand ambassador for Nespresso since 2006 – turned up in an advert for a rival coffee machine.
Has he really? No. It’s a George Clooney lookalike, but Nespresso is suing an Israeli competitor, Espresso Club, alleging that consumers could be “misled” by the advert.
If I bore a striking resemblance to George Clooney, I would just thank my lucky stars and leave it at that. There’s absolutely no way I would take unfair advantage of … oh, wait – I just thought of a way. And now I feel dirty. To be fair to the actor in the Israeli advert, he doesn’t actually look that much like George Clooney.
What does Nespresso want? $50,000, and the immediate removal of the advert.
Who knew the pod game could be so cutthroat? Litigation is a major feature of the global portioned-coffee business, particularly when it comes to third-party capsules.
I didn’t understand a word of that. About 30bn coffee pods are bought each year worldwide. Nespresso is the market leader, but something like 180 companies produce capsules that are compatible with Nespresso machines.
And Nespresso sues them? Sometimes it’s the other way round. Last year the Ethical Coffee Company (ECC) sued Nespresso, claiming that a harpoon-like device introduced into some Nespresso machines, which rendered their compatible pods incompatible, violated a patent held by ECC.
What does Clooney have to say about third-party capsules and patent infringement in the single-serve sector? Absolutely nothing.
Do say: “‘Nespresso, what else?’ Try these pods I got at Poundland.”
Don’t say: “You don’t look as much like George Clooney as you did last night, but yes, I could do with a coffee.”
