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The beautiful relationship between Sony and its make-believe executive Kevin Butler has come to a sticky end.
The PlayStation platform holder is suing advertising firm Wildcat Creek – whose president is Kevin Butler actor Jerry Lambert – over the Kevin Butler IP.
Sony claims that Wildcat used a near exact copy of the character in an advertising campaign for Bridgestone Tires. One video, in particular, saw a Butler-type character wearing a lab coat testing Mario Kart Wii.
Sony Computer Entertainment America filed alawsuitagainst Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek, Inc on September 11th,” SCEA’s senior director of corporate communications Dan Race told VentureBeat. The claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship.
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.”
The Kevin Butler character debuted in 2009 and became popular with gamers for his flamboyant take on modern corporate culture.
