Erling Haaland Sues Norwegian Airline Over World Cup Advert Featuring His Hairstyle

Erling Haaland, the star forward for Manchester City, is taking legal action against Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, a Norwegian airline. The lawsuit stems from a World Cup advertisement that featured an image of a plane with Haaland's distinctive ponytail haircut edited onto it. The airline used the image in an advertisement accompanied by the caption, "We've never felt more Norwegian."

Haaland, who became known for his ponytail during his prolific goal-scoring seasons for both club and country, has reportedly not found the advertisement amusing. The post has since been removed from the airline's social media channels.

According to Norwegian publication VG, Haaland alleges a violation of the Marketing Act. A preliminary meeting between the judge and lawyers is scheduled for October 9, preceding the main hearing.

A spokesperson for Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, Catharina Solli, expressed confusion over the lawsuit, stating, "We struggle to understand why we have been taken to court. Just like almost everyone else in Norway, we encouraged the national team during the summer."

Solli added that the airline "published a few things spontaneously, inspired by social media trends" and that "it is unfortunate that this encouragement has been greeted by a lawsuit." She concluded, "But we hope to have a reasonable dialogue, in order that we can continue in the future to support our sporting heroes together."

Thomas Hagen, Haaland's lawyer, countered that "This case is about the illegal use by Norwegian of Haaland's distinguishing features to sell air tickets during the World Cup finals."

Haaland represented Norway in their recent World Cup campaign, where the team reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated by England. He scored seven goals during the tournament.