Joystiq

Bridgestone responds to Sony: Kevin Butler wasn't in our commercial

Sinan Kubba — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:30:00 EST

Bridgestone is responding to Sony's lawsuit by denying the Kevin Butler character appeared in one of its recent commercials. Following Sony's allegations over Butler actor Jerry Lambert's appearance in a Bridgestone commercial, the tire manufacturer made a statement via The Hollywood Reporter declaring its intention to fight the lawsuit. As far as Bridgestone is concerned, Lambert appeared in its commercial but wasn't starring as Kevin Butler in any way whatsoever.

"Mr. Lambert is one of the actors who appeared in the commercial as a Bridgestone engineer," reads the statement, "Bridgestone denies that 'Kevin Butler' appears in the Bridgestone commercial discussed herein and thus denies that he speaks or does anything whatsoever in the commercial."

It emerged last month Lambert appeared in a commercial as part of Bridgestone's "Game On" campaign, featuring him playing a Wii and acting in a similar exuberant manner to his PlayStation persona of Kevin Butler. Sony believes Bridgestone and Lambert's advertising agency Wildcat Creek are guilty of violating the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract, and intentional interference with a contractual relationship. Sony filed the lawsuit on September 11, and Bridgstone has since removed Lambert from its most recent ads. Sony has until October 12 to withdraw the lawsuit, otherwise it proceeds.

Bridgestone responds to Sony: Kevin Butler wasn't in our commercial originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony, Kevin Butler actor in lawsuit over breach of contract

Jessica Conditt — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:00:00 EST

Sony filed a lawsuit implicating Jerry Lambert, the actor who plays Kevin Butler, Sony's high-energy, aggressive spokesman and fake VP of whatever happens to be relevant. Sony's claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship, senior director of corporate communications Dan Race writes in a statement to VentureBeat.

Early in September, images and video of Lambert in Bridgestone Tires' "Game On" promotion gained traction online, wherein Lambert is playing a Wii and over-acting in a style similar to his Kevin Butler character. Lambert appeared in Bridgestone commercials as early as February. On September 11, Sony filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone Tires and Wildcat Creek, an advertising agency for which Lambert is actually president.

Since the filing, Lambert has been removed from the most recent Bridgestone ads. The Game On promotion ended on September 30.

"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," Sony's statement says. "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."

Lambert and Sony reached an agreement on September 26, and Sony has until October 12 to officially withdraw the suit or announce it will continue forward. NeoGAF member Takao has a detailed breakdown of the entire lawsuit.

Below find a few of Lambert's most memorable Sony advertisements.

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Sony, Kevin Butler actor in lawsuit over breach of contract originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NBC working on video game show pilot for primetime

Andrew Yoon — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:00:00 EST

According to a Joystiq source, NBC is developing a pilot for a show about gaming, focusing on gamer culture and the people who make games. According to the source, the project is being helmed by TJ "Ocman" Allard, a former Ubisoft designer. His co-host is Audrey Cleo, who currently works on Qore. The team is currently editing footage recorded at E3 for the pilot, including interviews with Kinect's Kudo Tsunoda and Mortal Kombat's Ed Boon.

Specific details, like a show name and distribution, have yet to be settled upon. However, our source says that the working title is currently "Game On." The pilot -- planned for primetime -- may even premiere as early as next month. If you happen to know more about this project, feel free to send us a tip. We will keep you anonymous!

NBC working on video game show pilot for primetime originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameOn! London is off

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:44:00 EST

HMV's GameOn! London event is officially off with the official website making the cancellation expressly clear. Ticket holders will be refunded for the event, which was to occur in November, after already being delayed from June.

For an event that had several big publishers allegedly committed to the show when it was first announced, organizers obviously ran into some major issues. Perhaps the Eurogamer Expo -- also partnered with HMV -- which takes place at the end of October, was just more attractive.

[Thanks, Shaffy]

GameOn! London is off originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Denver gamer opens game store in memory of his mother

Richard Mitchell — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Colorado's 9News reports that 18-year-old gamer Elijah Taylor has opened a new game shop called Game On in Denver (located at Alameda and Zuni). While that in itself might seem ordinary, it's the circumstances that prompted him to do so that are extraordinary. Taylor grew up with a single mother who was only 18 when Elijah was born. The two of them would often use video games as an escape from the everyday problems they faced, with Elijah saying he was "raised ... on the games she was playing at the time."

Taylor opened his store in honor of his mother, Dani Jo Perko, who died at the very young age of 35, when he was only 17. "You know, I can either just grieve and wallow for a while and just feel sorry for myself," said Taylor. "Or I can do what my mom would've done and do something with my life." He noted that many of the games at Game On were part of he and his mother's personal collection, saying, "I can look through here and be like, 'Oh, I remember playing that with my mom when I was just a kid."

Taylor said he hoped his mother would have been proud of him.

Denver gamer opens game store in memory of his mother originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameOn! London delayed until November

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST

The GameOn! London event, which was set for next weekend, has been moved to November. The public event will now be held at Earls Court on November 14-15, right in time for some holiday showing offage. Those who bought tickets for the June show can now receive a full refund or receive up to four complimentary tickets instead. Where's Monty Hall?

Show organizor HMV tells MCV that the event was moved so it could become "bigger and better." Scheduling the show within the impact radius of E3 likely didn't help the expo garner any attention.

GameOn! London delayed until November originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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June's GameOn! expo lets public try Capcom's latest

Majed Athab — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:00:00 EST

It's a real shame that E3 is an industry-only event, keeping all the hot, new games out of the hands of the general public. The only way you, the gaming masses, will get an early romp with these highly-anticipated titles is if you hop on a plane to England and grab tickets to London's GameOn! event.

On June 20 and 21 at the London Olympia, British gamers will get to go hands-on with upcoming titles from the following companies: Sony, Nintendo, Capcom and possibly more. Specifically, Capcom (via Edge-Online) has a detailed list of what it's showing, and it certainly is a line-up strong enough to make its E3 showcase blush. Check out the list after the break. Is there anything you want to play?

Continue reading June's GameOn! expo lets public try Capcom's latest

June's GameOn! expo lets public try Capcom's latest originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 29 May 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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