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Forums - Sony - 'That isn't Kevin Butler', Bridgestone claims

milkyjoe on 09 October 2012

So it's entirely based on the fact that he has the same face as the KB character, given that there was no explicit mention of the character in the commercial.

Amazing.



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sales2099 on 09 October 2012

lol, guess Sony fans cant pull the Kevin Butler card anymore :P



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amp316 on 09 October 2012

Maybe the former NFL kicker, Kevin Butler, should sue Sony for stealing his name.



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Pavolink on 09 October 2012

As I said in the other thread, they ruined his actor career.



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Max King of the Wild on 09 October 2012

I don't think Bridgestone should have used Lambert in this particular commercial promoting the Wii because of his previous work... I guess more of a professional courtesy. But I think Sony should have been happy they took him out because they didn't need to do that.



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Roma on 09 October 2012

you keep on sinking Sony well done!



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cusman on 09 October 2012

I get both sides of the argument here.

Actor

If it doesn't get settled out of court, then it will be very interesting litigation. The actors contract ended, and he got hired by Bridgestone. The exclusivity clause only prevented him from working for Nintendo or Microsoft (direct competitors). What if he had been hired into a movie with a named character and at some point in the movie he happens to be in the same room or even play Wii or XBox? Would Sony still be all over him about his appearance (not as Kevin Butler)?

Sony

Clearly people identified Kevin Butler in add playing Wii game and news articles went up all over internet on gaming sites giving Bridgestone lots and lots of free eyes. It makes sense that Sony is disappointed and wants to preserve the character affiliation with Sony Playstation brand. They definitely invested and continue to invest in it with games like LittleBigPlanet 2 getting Kevin Butler avatars and other such on-going promotions of the character.

Bridgestone

Somebody in their marketing department should get a raise out of this situation. They capitalized on all this free press. Then even took the actor out of their commercial so no more on going active use while still getting all this free press and people watching the original. Those were marketing dollars well spent. Bridgestone is the clear winner here. I don't know that any current law/interpretation would hold them at fault... I mean maybe they didn't even do this intentionally and just got lucky.



saicho on 09 October 2012
Turkish said:
smbu2000 said:
Turkish said:
smbu2000 said:
Turkish said:
Yeah, no. Portraying that dude in a videogame commercial is clearly trying to eat from Sony's IP.

It was a commercial for Bridgestone who happened to have a promotion that month. 

Perhaps Holiday Inn should sue Sony for having their "Holiday Inn businessman" character stolen by Sony. Mr. Lambert starred in those commercials before the KB ads.


And, was KB promoting the same thing mista holiday inn was promoting? No, so whats your point?

Was that KB in the Bridgestone commercial? No, it was a Bridgestone engineer, who appeared in other Bridgestone commercials before this one as well. He may look like KB, but he's not. Just like KB looks like the Holiday Inn businessman, but he's not.


He is definetly the KB character in this commercial because he's promoting a videogame. The dude is directly associated with playstation over the years. It is trying to live from Sony's IP. No one would have problems if Jerry Lambert was in a commercial selling any other type of products.


This doesn't make any sense. Are you saying he is Kevin Butler character adressed as a Bridgestone engineer and act as a Bridgestone engineer in the commercial that never identifies himsefl as KEvin Butler? Just because he is playing/promoting a videogame doesn't make him a Kevin Butler character in all commercials.



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VicViper on 09 October 2012

He's not promoting the wii... he's promoting a bridgestone promotion that will distribute wiis.

Really, it's not that hard to tell. They don't want to sell wiis here.



happydolphin on 09 October 2012
kowenicki said:
Turkish said:
Yeah, no. Portraying that dude in a videogame commercial is clearly trying to eat from Sony's IP.


Which is of course impossible to prove. He didn't speak and didn't seem to be holding a VP of sarcastic weak humour role.

This is weak and cheap. Grubby and pointless.

QFT. I understand someone trying to defend Sony as a fan, but Jerry Lambert needs to make a living, and works with/is associated with Bridgestone for which he plays a part in commercials. It's his right as an actor to be able to wield a Wii in a commercial if that's what's being promoted, so long as he isn't using an IP created by Sony (Kevin Butler).