'Kevin Butler' appears on a Wii advert, gets completely removed from it soon after
A Bridgestone Mario Kart Wii Advert.
That's right, Sony’s Kevin Butler was spotted advertising Wii Products, however he has been removed in a new version of that promo.
If you didn't know, earlier this month Sony marketing character Kevin Butler -who’s played by actor Jerry Lambert- was spotted engaging in a Mario Kart Wii match in a television advert for Bridgestone.
Well, it now appears the original commercial was removed or Kevin Butler was edited out of it by either Sony or Sony's minions...
The old footage has KB saying the vast majority of the lines. The woman next to him doesn’t say anything so I’m going to guess that the current version of the commercial is using another take of that same scene but with KB digitally taken out.
Bridgestone has been removing the original commercial from Youtube, but you can watch the ad on these otherlinks, or in this remaining YT Link (Jump to 1:04).
And finally, you can watch the 'Butler-less' ad below!
Great 'Damage Control' from Sony. Funny stuff in here, don't you think?
NEWS UPDATE!
It seems Sony has more then just removed 'Kevin' from the TV AD, they are playing hard-ball and have filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone and the poor little production company called 'Wildcat Creek', as Gregory over from PS3Hax was able to dig up some court filings regarding this issue of 'Trademark', seems 'Kevin' even tho he no longer with the big crab company Sony is forever in their claws as a 'Trademark'.
Some people are overreacting. He was in a Bridgestone commercial that happened to be enticing customers using Nintendo's console, he was not advertising the wii itself. Personally I don't see his removal as damage control either, maybe it was intended as DC but I don't think his presence was at all damaging to any company. He's a funny actor and Sony lost a valuable asset when he was fired/resigned. But he shouldn't be forced for the rest of his life to be loyal to one company. Fanboys are raging calling him a Nintendo fanboy. They can't see that him being in a Bridgestone commercial advertising a service that might get somebody a wii is not the same as saying he likes the wii much less that he doesn't like the ps3. And even if he does like Nintendo or their products liking them doesn't mean he has to hate Sony or their products. He doesn't work for Sony anymore so he shouldn't have to stay out of other commercials just because they feature competing products. And honestly, customers should stay outside of console wars and leave that to the companies themselves. You're not helping Sony's case by attacking Kevin Butler. Calling him a traitor doesn't make anybody look good, it only makes you look bad. Note this is directed to the already appearing stigma and future stigma this commercial seems to be bringing on Youtube.
It seems Sony has more then just removed 'Kevin' from the TV AD, they are playing hard-ball and have filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone and the poor little production company called 'Wildcat Creek', as Gregory over from PS3Hax was able to dig up some court filings regarding this issue of 'Trademark', seems 'Kevin' even tho he no longer with the big crab company Sony is forever in their claws as a 'Trademark'.
Yeah, hope it does get thrown out. Though part of me actually wants me see it taken to court and become a huge loss for Sony, so a message can be sent that you can't claim ownership of an actor as a trademark when he doesn't work for you. The roles could be reversed, if Nintendo pulled that, I would say the same thing. Jerry Lambert is a human being, not a slave. He isn't a symbol, he is a person. If he wants to advertise the wii (which he really wasn't now) he should be allowed, especially since he isn't on the payroll. Not even a contract can prevent that, since he isn't on Sony's payroll. His contract became null and void after he left. Hopefully Sony sees that even if they are legally in the right, that winning may harm them far more than help. That only the most rabid of fanboys could justify their actions. To the rest, their actions look pitiful.
'Kevin Butler' appears on a Wii advert, gets completely removed from it soon after
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