Haaland sues airline company over illegal trademark use in World Cup campaign

[p][b]"We can confirm that, on behalf of York Promotions Ltd. and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Braut Haaland[/a], we have filed a lawsuit against Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA,"[/b] writes lawyer Thomas Hagen in an email to VG.no.[/p][p][b]"The case concerns Norwegian’s unlawful use of Haaland’s identity and brand in its marketing of flight tickets during the World Cup,"[/b] writes Hagen, of the law firm Schjødt.[/p][p]"We have no further comments at this time," he adds.[/p][p]VG is not aware of the details of the lawsuit, but this Instagram post has been deleted from Norwegian’s pages.[/p][p][b]"We’ve never looked more Norwegian," the airline wrote alongside a photo of a Norwegian aircraft. They had photoshopped in Haaland’s well-known—formerly blonde—hairstyle, complete with his signature ponytail at the back.[/b][/p][p]The image was shared on TikTok, among other platforms. Norwegian has also deleted Instagram posts featuring Haaland.[/p][embed guid="11743f4c-b6f0-4098-80f8-17c8d2c12f96" url="https://x.com/omni_red/status/2105401346144743767" social-type="twitter" /][p]Eivind Hammer Myhre, a press spokesperson for Norwegian, confirms to VG that the company has received the lawsuit.[/p][p][b]“It is true that we have received a lawsuit that we find baffling,” [/b]says Myhre. He points out that Norwegian, like many others, cheered for the national team this summer.[/p][p]“Like almost all of Norway, we joined in cheering for the national team this summer through a few spontaneous posts based on social media trends.”[/p][p]Norwegian believes the posts must be viewed in this context.[/p][p]“It is unfortunate that these cheers have been met with a lawsuit, but we hope for a sensible dialogue so that we may continue to cheer for our shared sports heroes in the future,” says Myhre.[/p]