Seeking "damages" when using someone's voice in an honorable way which doesn't hurt their image seems a bit off -- but it's a great way to make some easy money. The family of John "Voice of God" Facenda is doing just that by seeking damages for the use of his voice in the Making of Madden 2006, a promotional video created by the National Football League for the video game. EA is not included in the suit. Facenda gave the NFL unlimited use of his recorded voice in everything except product endoresment. The Facenda family claims that the 22-minute promotional video, which uses Facenda's voice for 13 seconds, is a violation of that agreement. A judge agrees and the issue is going in front of a jury.Today, Facenda is endorsing Madden, what's next? Facenda family attorney Paul Lauricella has an idea, saying, "[Facenda's son] does not want to wake up one day hearing his father's voice advertising condoms... The Madden game's a great game. We just think if it's going to be advertised [with his voice], it deserves to be compensated."
NFL brand condoms pitched by a man who died in 1984, that's ridiculous. That's almost as ludicrous as thinking screen legend Fred Astaire would be used to sell Dirt Devils -- oh, wait. Proceed Facenda family, carry on.
