Sony settles lawsuit with Kevin Butler actor
By
Martin Gaston, News Editor
Jerry Lambert agrees to not endorse any of Sony's competitors for two years.
Jerry Lambert, the actor who played Kevin Butler in dozens of PlayStation adverts, has settled a lawsuit with Sony over his appearance in a commercial for Bridgestone tyres.
As part of the terms of the settlement, reported by MediaPost, Lambert admitted that the advertisement may have caused confusion and that his contract with Sony meant he was unable to promote products from other video game companies.
Lambert has agreed to spend the next two years not appearing to promote "any other video game or computer entertainment system or video game company." Once Lambert's two years on the naughty step have played out, he has also agreed to spend the next two years giving Sony the heads-up in any subsequent advertisement which endorses a competitor's product.
The Kevin Butler character still remains in the possession of Sony, as you might expect, although we haven't seen Sony use the character in a while.
The original lawsuit came about in September 2012 after Lambert was seen playing a Nintendo Wii in a US advertisement for the tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, with players able to pick up one of Nintendo's consoles as part of a promotion.
Later the advert was edited to remove Lambert, as Sony alleged that its contract with Lambert stopped him from endorsing its competitors and that Bridgestone had essentially poached the Kevin Butler character. Bridgestone, however, denied that Kevin Butler was featured in the advertisement.
"Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony’s intellectual property, creates confusion in the market, and causes damage to Sony," said Sony at the time.
While Sony and Lambert have now settled their differences, the publisher is still engaged in a legal tussle with Bridgestone.
By
Martin Gaston, News Editor
Martin Gaston has absolutely never at all had the song from Beauty and the Beast sung to him at any point during his life, ever.
126 comments
This is ridiculous. he should be able to appear in what he wants. how would it cause confusion? he was in a sony advert advertising a sony product then he was advertising the wii. now if i wanted the ps 3 it is not going to confuse me into buying a wii because some guy was in the ad. As it stands i have wii xbox 360 and ps 3 but if i was out to buy one of them some guy appearing in saparate companies commercials is not going to confuse anyone.
I love how many people are making smart a** remarks on this article yet are clearly "missing" something themselves. The spelling of "tyre" is fine. He is able to work in just about anything he wants to except if it has anything to do with a Wii or Xbox. What are there no other paying jobs for actors that don't have to do with a video game platform? I didn't love any of the Butler commercials but I also can't think of anything by Xbox or even Wii that stuck out in my mind more.
It's a shame they scrapped the Kevin Butler commercials. Those were the funniest ads in the gaming world behind those squirrels and their "portable nut."
@mamelon2012 Yes, I believe "Tyres" is the UK, or english version of our way of spelling "Tire"
I believe it's considered to be that way so as not to be confused with a car Tire, or to tire of something/ grow tired.
Eff you Sony. Also the PS3 has sucked hard since day one. Kingdom Hearts 3 (or is it 4 now) is literally the only reason I'd bother buying one at this point. And thats looking less likely by the day.
@SeAzhrei Right, it sucks..... It hasn't sold millions of consoles. Because you are a fanboy of one system, that makes it suck. Congrats on being the official opinion of every gamer on the earth.
@iempire68 @SeAzhrei Dear Late to the party Ego Person,
Got it halfway. I am a "fan" of one system. Where my positive experiences with the other can be counted on one hand. THAT makes it suck. This might shock you but opinion CAN in fact be based on knowledge and experience. Yes even on teh interwebs! Shocking, I know. Now please continue looking for things to take offense to.
@iempire68 Oooo defensive aren't we? "I'm not being defensive!1!" Yeah. I mean obviously giving one's unambiguous view of sony's handling of the Jerry Lambert thing is the dictionary definition of childish. Unlike sony's handling of the Jerry Lambert thing. And unlike walking down the street yelling fanboy at random passers-by. Almost a month after I'd given a bit more detailed reasons for those views, too. Honestly I'd call you a troll but I've already figured out you aren't one. Like everyone else you're just tired of the petty spite for no apparent reason and have a hard time accepting when someone actually has complaints based on something other than hearsay. Which is cool. Just stop projecting it onto everyone else. kthxby
@SeAzhrei @iempire68 I'm not offended at all. I actually don't care what system you prefer. Your comment is just childish so I commented. See, you felt need to post an opinion and I can reply to your opinion. Don't post things if you can't take it.
1 Like @SeAzhrei I just don't get it. I don't like Halo so I have no reason to go buy an Xbox. There are quite a few games that are only on PS3 that I enjoy so thats the system I play but I don't have any ill will towards Xbox. I am not going to tell it to go "eff itself" because I don't own one. Grow up and find a real issue to get upset about.
The Wii won this gen anyways!
The only damage that could have been done was for him to play a X360.
The commercial was for car tires from Bridgestone. But a Nintendo wii just happened to be in the commerical. Kevin cannot be held to blame.
2 Like I hate when companies use the argument that someone's actions "creates confusion in the marketplace" because what they're essentially saying is "our customers are so stupid that they can't tell that actors some times pretend to be more then one character". You know what Sony? We're not that stupid and I'll thank you to not make us your excuse for your frivolous control freak lawsuits.
The commercials with this guy were a little funny, but he seems replaceable. I don't know all the details but why would Sony even want to keep this guy around? Hire someone else.
I stuck a bag of microwave popcorn into the drive slot of my PS3 but it didn't pop.... Clearly the PS3 does NOT do everything. Kevin lied to me......
This comment has been deleted
@CivilizedPsycho I was wondering the same thing. He doesn't seem that special anyways. His commercials were charming but Sony can surely top them.....
@CivilizedPsycho Because Sony can't come up with their own ideas. Sony, copy & paste. This has been done before, SEGA! Segata Sanshiro is so much better....
I hate how Sony kept on Lik-Sang-ning other ppl. Now they just Lik-Sang Jerry Lambert. With Sony around, everyone is losing work.
" he has also agreed to spend the next two years giving Sony the heads-up in any subsequent advertisement which endorses a competitor's product. "
Isn't that illegal?
@gplayer5 Both are valid ways to spell the word.
I prefer the spelling "tyre" however because I tire of the misunderstandings caused by the double meaning of the other way to spell it.
1 Like @Saketume @gplayer5 one has to be pretty stupid to misunderstand tire in this context...
1 Like @Llama345 @gplayer5 Nope, I don't. Never been to Europe. The dictionaries I have read confirm "tire" is definitely the correct way to spell it. However there has been much controversy over the "tyre" spelling.
Proof. (under etymology and spelling)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire
btw, my original posting was a joke. No need to get all offended for nothing.
1 Like While a little ridiculous - it makes sense and it WAS in the contract. Enough said. And way to go Sony for keeping it classy and settling this without any more fuss.
Now, for Bridgestone - I don't know if this will go far. It wasn't like Bridgestone was trying to promote their intellectual property with the Michilan Man. Confusion? Sure. But intended thievery? No.
If you work for Sony you work for Sony for life weather you still work for Sony of not.
2 Like At first I thought this was stupid. Bridgestone isn't a competing company.
Then I read the line about the Wii.
He should have known better, you don't play for both teams man.
1 Like Sony are a bunch of tools... The dude did nothing wrong. Agreed w/below posts: The Kevin Butler commercials are literally the ONLY memorable commercials in Sony's history.
@Pyrosa I gotta defend Sony on this one. Kevin Butler , at one time, was a big part of their ad campaigns. He even appeared at some E3s , representing Sony. So if this were just a Bridgestone commercial I could understand, but it's also promoting a free Wii. I side with Sony on this one.
3 Like @Pyrosa " Lambert admitted that the advertisement may have caused confusion" yeah, he did nothing wrong. He had something good going but ruined it. Hopefully they will work things out and he can come back. He is quite funny.
8 Like Well Sony, the guy's gotta eat. How about using him to make more KB commercials? God knows you suck at advertising and the KB character is the best thing you've ever come up with. And what do you do? You let it languish and force the guy to look for other work.
tyre noun UK (US tire)
Definition
a thick rubber ring, often filled with air, which is fitted around the outer edge of the wheel of a vehicle, allowing the vehicle to stick to the road surface and to travel over the ground more easily
I've got a flat tyre (= the air has gone out of it).He was driving along the motorway when his tyre burst.I keep a spare tyre in the back of the car.
You're welcome
2 Like He was playing a Wii allegedly with the "mannerisms" of Kevin Butler, a character owned by Sony.
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