Pedro Pascal has embarked on a legal crusade against a Chilean alcohol merchant who has taken the liberty of selling his brand of the country's national spirit under the name "Pedro Piscal." David Herrera, the merchant, successfully registered the brand name with a Chilean commercial regulator in 2023 and commenced selling his potent grape brandy, pisco, in shops and restaurants.
"We tried a few names and 'Pedro Piscal' stuck," Herrera confessed to The Guardian, adding, "Then we were planning a trip to the Pisco region when suddenly we were getting strongly worded emails from lawyers. Me, a mere mortal, getting emails from a superstar actor? It scared me a bit."
Chilean-born Pascal has filed to reclaim the brand name due to its striking similarity to his own name and brand. The outcome of this legal case is being keenly observed in Chile and is anticipated to set a significant precedent for how celebrity names are protected in a country where leveraging star power to shift products is not uncommon.
To date, similar cases have not been successful. A honey business calling itself "Miel Gibson," and using a still of Mel Gibson from the film Braveheart on the label, won the right to keep using the name after the actor sued. In 2020, DC Comics went after a bakery in Santiago that had called itself "Superpan" for three decades and used images of Clark Kent and his famous "S" motif, but in the end, the bakery emerged victorious. Additionally, in March 2026, Australian fashion designer Katie Perry won a long-running, 17-year legal battle against US pop star Katy Perry in the High Court of Australia, with the decision protecting the designer's ability to trade under her own name.
