SFX, the company which represents Beckham, has written to easyJet complaining about the unauthorised use of his image, and demanded that the airline make an immediate payment of £10,000 to the NSPCC.
EasyJet, which has based several recent press ads on topical personalities, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and convicted fraudster Major Charles Ingram, told Marketing it would continue running the campaign this week and that it was considering the request.
"It is a light-hearted campaign which we consider to be no different to the way the tabloid press uses Beckham's image to sell newspapers," said easyJet head of corporate affairs Toby Nichol. "We do not believe that anyone would look at our ad and believe that Beckham is endorsing easyJet."
A spokesperson for SFX said: "We take a very serious view of this type of activity. We have a standard process of taking legal action when companies use topical images of our clients without our express permission."
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