Sony Sues Bridgestone over Ad with Kevin Butler Actor

Sony is suing Bridgestone Tires and the actor who plays Kevin Butler. On September 11th, Sony filed an intellectual property suit against Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek, Inc. over a series of ads featuring Jerry Lambert, who played Kevin Butler in a long-running campaign of PlayStation ads. Lambert is listed as president of Wildcat Creek, an advertising firm that has been operating since 2007.

The ads -- which emerged earlier this year -- feature Lambert as a Spokesperson for Bridgestone in various settings. Most recently, the ads began focusing on a “Game On” promotion that included, among other things, Lambert playing Mario Kart Wii. According to Sony, this "causes damage" to Sony and creates confusion among consumers.

“Sony Computer Entertainment America filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek, Inc. on September 11. The claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship,” Sony senior director of corporate communications Dan Race toldVentureBeat. “We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he’s become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years. 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.”

 

Interestingly, Bridgestone appears to have attempted to make amends, as the NeoGAF forums spotted two versions of the ad -- one in which Butler was present and one in which he was either blocked or edited out altogether.

As noted by Kotaku, Sony and Bridgestone have already begun discussing a settlement, and by October 12th the suit will either come to a close or move forward in court. We’ve reached out to Sony for additional clarification on the suit and will update with any comment we receive.

Kevin Butler made his debut as a fictional Sony spokesperson in 2009 as part of the “it only does everything” ad campaign. Butler went on to become one of Sony’s most iconic recent campaigns, appearing at E3, inspiring a similar PSP-themed spokesperson named Marcus Rivers and even teasing Sony’s other campaigns. Butler “left” Sony during a fake hiatus last year and returned in August 2011. Butler is set to appear as downloadable content in LittleBigPlanet Karting when it launches on November 6th. It’s currently unknown whether or not the lawsuit will affect that, but we’ve asked Sony and will update if we hear back.