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Sony Suing Kevin Butler For Bridgestone Wii Commercial

New legal documents show that Sony is currently in the process of suing Jerry Lambert, aka Kevin Butler, for the Bridgestone Wii commercial. Sony is taking legal action against Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek, whose president is none other than Jerry Lambert. The end result of the proceedings could see the end of Jerry Lambert’s advertising career.

172 thoughts on “Sony Suing Kevin Butler For Bridgestone Wii Commercial”

      1. It was Universal City Studios, not Dreamsworks.

        Heck, Dreamworks didn’t even exist till ten years after the case.

        1. The Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. case occurred in 1984.
          Dreamsworks was founded on 1994.

        1. It was Universal like holonboy said. It was because Universal thought DK was a copyright infringement on King Kong.

  1. People are going to start trolling Sony and calling them the bad guy. It’s never nice to be sued but…. if you sign a contract, you better know what’s in it.

    They wouldn’t have a case otherwise.

      1. Sony’s always the villain anyway in the eyes of the public ignorant to the law and business. They could lose the case, no doubt – but for now, there is a case which means they have basis for their claims. We’ll have to wait and see how it develops.

        1. Yes. Like when they totally fairly had Lik-Sang closed down for selling PSP’s to people in the west.

          Legally correct. Morally ambiguous.

          It’s up to the individual to decide which is more important.

        2. Even if Sony has a case against Lambert, outright suing him is practically shooting themselves in the foot. Sony fans generally seem to like Butler and even I enjoy seeing him in commercials. You have to ask; what’s more important to Sony? Is suing Lambert worth potentially pissing off their fans? I’m curious to see what they think of this.

          1. i enjoy seeing him to, but i dont really care if he gets sued. He had a contract and something probably happen. tough nuggets. this only means that we’ll get a different face to represent the PS3/PS4.

            1. I’m not really talking about how this affects Lambert so much as how it will affect the fanbase. This move must make Sony look like a huge tool, even to their own fans, and that’s why I’m curious to see the reaction.

    1. I’d love to see the contract, personally. Any advertiser that signs a non-compete agreement doesn’t deserve to be advertising.

      Advertisers and PR groups may not get much esteem, but I know that any advertiser who purposely cut himself off from clients at another client’s say-so DESERVES to be out of business. Odds are better than good that they had no proprietary information, no confidential specs, nothing.

      Personally, I’m hoping to see Sony shot the hell down in court and forced to pay legal fees. The company’s arrogance has been overwhelming ever since the PS2.

      1. (Also, “Sue First, Ask Questions Later” is not an unheard of strategy. Suits are filed all the time without merit just to try and ellicit a settlement. See the Righthaven lawsuits taking place in the American Southwest at the moment.)

      2. Man, you have a lot to learn about the business world. This is not an uncommon occurrence. Please believe similar cases happen all the time for other companies that you likely use their services or buy their products.

        This isn’t a special legal contract that you can find only with the likes of Sony. I worked for a tech company in the past that had similar legal terms. I have to wait 5 years before I can be employed by certain companies or promote certain products.

        1. You worked for a tech company. You worked with proprietary secrets that could reasonably damage your employer if you took those secrets to another company. Thus, the non-compete is both reasonable and expected.

          Guess what. I work in law, and you’ve got a lot to learn about the law. Yes, non-competes can and do exist in advertising. And in some cases, they’re warranted and expected.

          In other cases, possibly like this one? Not only are they not appropriate, the judge can look at the terms of employment and the contract, and decide that the contract is overly broad and in violation of the spirit of the law, and throw it out.

          One of the few things you’re correct about is the whole question of what the contract says. That’s what this will come down to.

          1. That having been said, it’s also worth noting that the judge can also say “You’re an idiot and you should have read your contract better.” A lot of the time it depends on the judge’s temperment and interpretation of the law.

            The judiciary is always a harsh mistress.

            1. A harsh mistress? When the fuck did the LAW become a FUCKING WHORE. This is the bullshit that pisses me off about America. It’s not fucking rocket science, it’s a motherfucking dumbass lawsuit that was started because there was a fucking Wii in the commercial. That’s fucking all. I’m sure that he could sell Sony’s secrets which couldn’t be obtained by advertising for them to Bridgestone Tires but what the fuck could they do with it? Also, I’m sure that if he was in a commercial where he so happened to walk by a Xbox360 they would also piss themselves. Fuck America and the supposed “law.”

              1. Also, it shouldn’t depend on the “temperment” of the judge either… I mean seriously, some faggot wakes up with a dildo up his ass and he gets to decide how this case goes? Fuck, in that case I’ll fucking take the case. His interpretation of the law? I interpret that the guy is a fucking retard that needs to get his head rammed into a wall repeatedly until he’s in a coma. If the law works the way that he “interprets” it, no wonder this nation is so fucked.

      1. The American Sony doesn’t exist. Everything, EVERYTHING from Sony comes from the edicts of the Japanese office.

        There’s a reason that the company is floundering at the moment.

        1. Not true. This lawsuit is from SCEA as in Sony Computer Entertainment of America where Jerry Lambert had a contract.

          Also, as I said in another post, this is not Sony as a whole taking these actions. This is their legal department. Don’t condemn the whole company or individuals within because of something they have no control over.

          1. Yes, because clearly Sony of Japan is the only arm of Sony in existence. The point that I was making is that Sony of America is for all intents and purposes a shadow agency, stuck behind the whims of the parent company in Japan. They have very little independence to make their own decisions. A bunch of executives in a board room in Japan make a decision, and it gets sent to America.

            Much like the rest of the gaming industry at the moment, home offices not having any idea about foreign markets is causing some MAJOR damage to the industry as a whole.

            1. (That said, I could have phrased my original comment better to make my point. So… you are correct in correcting my misstatement.)

      2. With the way you worded this, No, but i do get you, and im the same way (aside from jerry that is) NoJ and SoE are as classy as Nintendo all around, But SoA seems to be full of jerks that tend to put down other company’s. I still love sony though.

      1. They’re actually suing for trademark infringement, and not breach of contract, so all these posts about contract terms are pretty pointless.

        Sony’s trademark is Kevin Butler, and I did not see any reference to KB in the commercial. Unless Sony are going to try and argue that Jerry looking like KB is enough for a case of trademark infringement.

        Even they wouldn’t be that crazy.

    1. Sony is right for doing so.

      You don’t go signing a contract with a company and then make commercials that clearly advertise products for a competitor in the same field. That goes directly against what’s in the contract and can result in termination of Jerry Lambert’s advertising career if expressly stated in the contract that not abiding by the contract could lead to such a case.

      Serves him right.

      1. Let me go ahead and say that it’s the same if Jessie Cantrell of the Nintendo Show 3D started hosting for Microsoft or Sony products while she is still under contract with Nintendo.

        Once you sign a contract, it must be abided by unless voided or expired without renewal.

      2. Uh… no, not really.

        Yeah, there’s such a thing as non-competes, but if your advertising company is stupid enough to sign one, you deserve what you get.

        Brand loyalty does not extend to business, and heaven help any advertiser that thinks they should only serve one master at a time.

        1. I work for a company that deals with vendors and contractors.

          Trust me, there are MANY people out there that sign these binding contracts, don’t realize it when they break the contracts by associating with competing companies, and break their contractual agreement with their parent company in doing so.

          Imagine this, you are an advertising company (A) for product A, B, and C. Well, the contractor you hired about two years ago just had his contract renewed, which expressly states not to advertise or associate with any other company that is within the competitive field as it could ruin or shame advertising company A. Welp, he doesn’t care much, so he does so anyways and appears in a commercial for products D, E, and F of company B, a direct competitor of company A.

          Brand loyalty DOES extend to business! Wtf type of world are you living in? Have you EVER seen Reggie Fils-Aime or Shigeru Miyamoto involved directly with Sony or Microsoft during their time with Nintendo (as examples)? Or, as I stated in my previous post, Jessie Cantrell (Nintendo Show 3D woman who works by contract with Nintendo) who is working with Nintendo. I am positive that Nintendo stated to her explicitly what needed to be followed during her time under contract with the company to avoid the company’s image from being defaced.

          You don’t think this only happens in the gaming industry do you? Because a lot of people do it elsewhere too.

          1. Are you a complete imbecile? Is that what you’re trying to tell me here?

            ‘Cause your ability to argue is child-like in its innocence and naivete. Either that, or as I’ve expressed above, you’re a complete imbecile.

            Reggie and Shiggie are both employees of Nintendo. Not contractors, not vendors, not people who didn’t read their damn EULA. EMPLOYEES. Your example is intellectually bankrupt.

            Whatever the case may be, we don’t know what’s in the contract. That said… the contract is key here, as is the intelligence of the people who signed the contract.

            1. You’re ridiculous if you think this doesn’t exist. A huge example is Justin Long for the Apple commercials. You think he would be allowed to do Microsoft, Google, or Samsung commercials? No.

              1. Actually, a huge example is if Justin Long did a commercial with Oscar Mayer, who’s giving away a free Samsung laptop.

          2. He’s a character Actor & explain a binding contract for a character actor . lets just say their is a binding contract , am pretty sure their would be a clause in their stating that they must provide work for him & if they don’t contract is void.he got to protect himself just like they are.

      3. Question is was he still under contract or did contract expire ,cause if he not under contract he can do whatever he wants even work for a rivial.

  2. That’s a tad bit ridiculous. They’re suing him for having a job that isn’t relating to Sony, pretty much. I get that the main reason they’re angry is because he was promoting a Wii, but only as a prize for something Bridgestone was doing.

        1. Why do you even care about this man in the first place?

          I hated his guts. He came across to me as too cocky and arrogant in Sony’s commercials (hence why they stopped having commercials with him lately to begin with).

          One thing’s certain…Sony better get their act together and remove any videos of Jerry Lambert they have on YouTube and elsewhere before s*** hits the fan.

          1. You mean the commercials that Sony asked for? That Sony approved?

            The commercials that portray Sony EXACTLY as they want to be portrayed, like any commercial ever made?

            Those commercials?

            1. Let me get something straight…

              No matter what the outcome of this case, Jerry can state that he wants each and every one of those commercials removed.

              Sony DID make those commercials, but if Jerry is portrayed in them, he can say himself that he does not want them to be online or on air any longer. He reserves the right to do so, just like Sony reserves the right to remove Jerry from the Bridgestone commercial, and that would also be a perfect case for him to make there as well.

              Heck, if I were him, I wouldn’t want my face to be covering a company that is suing me for something like that either, so it would serve him right for demanding those videos he was in to be removed.

              1. He can say it, but if the contract he signed says that his likeness and the commercials are solely owned by SCEA and that he loses any right over the contents in it – then him saying he wants each commercial removed would be pointless.

                We don’t know what’s in the contract, so we can’t presume to know what he can or can’t do at the moment.

                1. True. Unless expressly stated, he cannot do so yet.

                  We should be getting more details on the case soon enough, so all we can do is wait and see the outcome of it.

                  Glad that I’m not the only one with the “know how” on how these shenanigans work though.

      1. I’m well aware of all the potential legal implications. Doesn’t stop it being a dick move.

        You can be acting within the law and still come across as a dick.

        Kinda like how a lot of people got pissed off with Apple recently.

        1. As I said earlier, the eye of the public ignorant to the law and those who do not own a business on that level.

          Sure it looks bad. But we live in a sue happy world. Nintendo sues people and companies all the time.

          1. What’s more important in situations like this? Being right in the eyes of a judge or not pissing off your customer base?

            Given that we’re not talking about a criminal issue.

            1. The internet forums are not the #1 source of their income. Most people will not even know what’s going on aside from the community online.

              A small percentage.

              Side Note: This is their legal department taking these actions. Not necessarily the SEO, CEO, not development studios, not producers, not writers, not the Sony bloggers, any other recognizable individual or person in authority in the company.

              Legal departments always have heydays in these situations.

    1. Actor or not. I had a job too some years ago where I signed a contract saying even after unemployment from the company, I could not promote or be employed by competitors or their products.

      If I did, I could be liable for suit as well. I have to wait 5 years until I’m free from that arrangement.

    1. this.

      for all we know, sony could be suing over the rights to the “kevin butler” character just because the bridgestone commercials didn’t say that he was someone other than kevin butler

      1. This is what i was thinking are they sueing the actor for doing a caracter for another company or for him doing keving butler in another console

    2. Because people love to presume to be correct while everyone else who thinks differently is wrong – especially when said person with the presumptuous attitude is uninformed or completely ignorant.

      Lovely world, aye?

  3. Wow, Sony went AWOL of the deep end with this. I mean, Aren’t actors actually allowed to do whatever job they want even though they are doing another in a different job contract or not?

    But hey, I’d say that it’s more of the fact that he was promoting Nintendo than the contract. That is since we all know how Sony is.

  4. But he’s an ACTOR. Soy dont “own” him. He worked for them at one point. That’s like Rim Burton sueing Johnny Depo because he worke on Pirates of the Caribbean. Fucking sad, stop waste money, Sony!

    1. Also, i have to wonder, if he was on contract with Sony, why would he risk his job, and put himself in the position to be sued… Its make no sense what so ever.
      The only reason i can see him doing it was if Sony pissed him off.

      Just sounds like Sony trying to grab money to me, due the embarrassing loses theyve taken. I love my ps3, but Sony are fucking stupid recently, and i might not even bother with a ps4, and just go to PC instead.

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  6. Was it not just a tire commercial. That happened to be giving away a Wii with the purchase of a set of tires. This lawsuit just stupid.

  7. This guy is originally a Sony guy so there’s no real reason for us to get pissed anyway, especially on this website. Just think of it as Sony suing their runaway asset.

    Also, I like how you guys judge Lambert for simply being human. Really, who wouldn’t want to advertise for Nintendo, you know? A contract isn’t going to stop somebody from being human. I find you guys who keep talking about “how the real world works” so damn hilarious. It’s almost pathetic as to how you hide behind regulation so you don’t have to do the dirty things yourselves, AND you end up judging those who do the very things you cower from.

  8. I dont doubt that there are terms of exclusivity to sony for set amount of time in his contract, but the lawsuit itself will be decided on how inclusive the language of that contract is, obviously. Im sure the contract was read and reread and appearing in a tire commercial NOT selling a competing product was okay. Speculative, yes, but thats what unions are there for.

    The REAL question is, what the hell does sony hope to obtain from him? Theyre ruining their only spokesman for what has to amount to nothing but a pr disaster that NO ONE cared about or even knew of.

    I could understand the eagerness if they had an opportunity to sue bridgestone, because they need a way to fund the ps4, but this seems lose/lose…

    But thats what sony does best now, i guess.

  9. Well this was certainly surprising. Though I was expecting Sony to do something about this. Now I wonder if the same would happen with Nintendo if Reggie was advertising a competing product? Better yet, let’s not think of that.

      1. Yeah I know, still it’s pretty harsh of what Sony is doing to Jerry Lambert/Kevin Butler. Pity cause I actually liked the guy.

    1. Reggie is the President of Nintendo of America… Jerry Lambert (Kevin Butler) is just an actor who played a role in sony’s commercials. It isn’t the same thing.

  10. i love it how im more informed about this sony situation from a nintendo ONLY site than the Playstation Blog site XD

    1. Well seeing as a Nintendo product was involved in this … I honestly don’t see why people continually bring this point up. Who cares if it says mynintendonews, don’t want to see more news then go have a cry.

      1. My point is that the actual Playstation fucking blog has no mention of this, and if you don’t like these type of comment then don’t reply to them and go have a ‘cry.’

        Whatever the hell that means.

    1. Um isn’t this about Sony hating on Sony? Are talking about Sony Fanboys? Because Nintendo Fanboys have been pretty fair (overall) in their comments on this.

      Just making sure you realize Sony is suing this guy, not Nintendo or it’s fans.

      1. Most people on this site are Nintendo fanboys and hate Sony. Sony copy this, Sony copy that. They jump on Sony if they do one thing that annoys them. It’s pathetic. Nintendo didn’t start HD gaming, touch screen gaming, online gaming etc. Dont give me that shit.

        1. just like if you go on a Sony site, most people like Sony and hate Nintendo…come on now, don’t act like Nintendo fans are the only ones who do that. At least they rarely go on ‘rival’ fan sites to troll…

          1. Actualy its not really the case, I visite MyNintendoNews and PsVitaHub daily and the ammount of fanboys on here outweight the fanboys on that site. Onalmost everything here you hear something negative about sony, and on PVH I’ve only seen like 3 guy reply to a troll that went buy the name Nintendo_DS_troll. Sites like IGN/ Macinima/ Screwattack/ Gamespot/ Kotaku/ ect,ect
            Are all different cause they aren’t dedicated sites. I think it has to do with Sickr and Alba posting so much flamebait.

        2. Nintendo isn’t suing butler, and you’re using this article as an excuse to flaunt self-righteousness to try and prove you have unbiased loyalties in the gaming community.

          I’ve been to the Sony forums, and I’ve read time and time again the things they say against Nintendo fans. Same with xBox.

          So don’t bring your arrogant, hypocritical bullshit here and pretend you’re IQ is higher than 10.

          1. I happen to like both companies and I know that every gaming site has fanboys. I just think all the hate is uncalled for especially when fanboys go on about the same bullshit all the time.

  11. Just as a point of clarification, the evidence suggests that there was no contract between Butler and Sony saying he couldn’t act it anything else. This is 100% a tort case that is pretty much Sony trying to say the actor/Bridgestone damaged the value of their brand which is trademarked.

    1. This case makes me laugh and really I don’t care who wins because it’s basically two multinational corps having a pissing contest on each other to see which one can find a way to make somebody think that they are taking the moral high ground. The guy you really have to feel is Jerry Lambert who was merely doing the job he was told to do by his bosses and did it well; both for Sony and for Bridgestone. It just goes to show you how easy it is to exercise your rights in America. A little too easy methinks.

      And Kevin Butler was a huge bright spot in the whole Sony PlayStation 3 era. Always made me chuckle.

  12. Wasn’t a big fan of the character, he was annoying, but I don’t want to see the man lose his job, or his standing for future jobs =/

  13. Sony has said too much,they should quit from the console war and start doing games for all consoles and personal computers or macs

    1. Except Sony aren’t like Nintendo, they focus on hardware, and let other studios create games for their consoles. At most, if Sony’s gaming division goes down (which is actually more of a likely scenario than Nintendo going the way of Sega, despite what some fanboys might think), their dev studios might then start doing games for the other consoles, possibly PCs too. Macs? Meh….

      1. I think it’s important for both companies to be successful with their next consoles. I want different experiences with both and I grew up playing both.

        1. Same here, I grew up on Nintendo and Sony…as for the latter, the PS1 and PS2 were absolutely brilliant, the PS3…eh…not so much, although it could be just the nostalgia talking here…

    1. The end, Nintendo would cater to its regular crowed and Sonys to it.

      Afters Nintendo Dick Move, I doubt we’ll ever see that happen though.

  14. I don’t understand why the Sony and Nintendo and Microsoft Fanboys can’t just all get along? Why can’t they be nice to each other and create games with each other instead of all this rivalry?
    The world would be a nicer place if people would get along and be nice to each other.

    Instead, fanboys are the root of all evil and they don’t deserve to play the game systems they play on. Even casual gamers are better than fanboys.

    I’m glad I’m not a fanboy, I couldn’t live with myself stooping to such a low level in life.

  15. This post, as many others, has generated a lot of posts containing the word, “Fanboy.”

    For lack of better term, and dispite the negative rep that follows the word around, I openly admit to being a Nintedo Fanboy on a NINTENDO site.

    I visit Sony forums to hear the buzz on the competition, but I don’t make an ass of myself posting on their site. (I just do it here among other Nintendo fans :p )

    I own and have gamed on every NES system to date, and have a Sega Genesis as my only non-nintendo console. I like to hear about the competition, and although articles such as this don’t interest me much, I’m glad they are posted here so I can skim them.

    People that come here all like,”What? You guys are Nintendo fans? Well, I’m a REAL gamer, I have all the consoles and don’t judge.” (except they’re judging me for being a Nintendo Fanboy, dispite the fact I don’t troll.)

    I think people like that are just jealous they don’t have a “home” system they can commit to and be proud of. Nintendo isn’t perfect, and I’ll bitch when they piss me off, but I believe they are the last company with a Vision for gaming that is not exclusive to, what will make the most Money. Instead, they ask, “How can we innovate the gaming experience?” – and that in nature makes them profitable.

  16. What’s hilarious is how the name “Kevin Butler” in no way ever gets mentioned in the ad. He’s a freakin tire salesman in the ad for crying out loud.

  17. Pingback: Sony Issues Statement Regarding Bridgestone, Kevin Butler Lawuit | My Nintendo News

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  20. the fact the Kevin butler ad campaign was in its self sad desperate and based on complete lies and anti nintendoism only makes this 1000 x sweeter than it would be if the original campain wasnt so sad and begging-ish and baSED AROUND NAKED MEN FIGHTING IN THE STREET in that weird homo black and white move fight game that wasnt a patch on wii sports boxing

    everyone on earth put there head in there hands at sonys desperation in that capmpain except loyal IDIOT sony fans

    not only did the butler campain fail it has returnede to hurt near dead sony AND I LOVE IT

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