F1 driver Max Verstappen sues grocery chain over lookalike ad campaign

Max Verstappen's managers are demanding 350 thousand euros in compensation from online grocery chain Picnic for a commercial in which a Vestappen lookalike was used, his manager Raymond Vermeulen confirmed to NU.nl

Picnic published the ad on Facebook late in September. It was a variation of an ad for supermarket chain Jumbo in which the real Max Verstappen delivers groceries. Jumbo is a major sponsor for Verstappen. In the Picnic ad an Verstappen lookalike was used.

In October Picnic removed the ad. The company stated that the video was "meant as a joke" - it was not a commercial, but a fun way to put their own deliverers in the spotlight.

Verstappen's management does not see it as a joke, however. They believe that improper use was made of the young Formula 1 star's image. "We calculated what the commercial value of the film would have been if we made arrangements about it in advance", Vermeulen said to the newspaper. "The court can, as far as we're concerned, rule on our demand. For us it is also about getting clarity on similar situations in the future."