If you spend any quality time watching TV or reading gamer publications, you know of Kevin Butler, the erstwhile vice president for Sony’s PlayStation gaming system. He was the face and attitude for the popular system, now in its third iteration.
Such is the power of a good television commercial. For a number of years, Kevin was in numerous Sony PlayStation spots, and always brought a smile to my face with his off-kilter comments and actions. But Kevin has been absent from Sony’s more recent PlayStation spots. Of which there have been none since 2011.
Still, Jerry Lambert, 55, the actor who portrayed Kevin for years, did too good of a job. When you see his face, I can imagine many would go right to PlayStation.
So it was surprising when Jerry popped up in Bridgestone’s latest series of TV spots, which attempt to like certain sports gear attributes to its tires, or is it vice versa? Jerry plays one of the “research scientists” at Bridgestone’s tire/sporting goods research center.
And that was OK. Until Bridgestone decided to offer a Nintendo Wii system as an incentive to a consumer tire purchase. And the spot announcing that promotion had good old Jerry playing with a Wii.
Sony, which has plenty of other problems before it right now, decided that the spot in question violated a big pile of laws, regulations and gentleman’s agreements. So it sued. Jerry and his Wildcat Creek business. And the ad agency. Oh, and Bridgestone.
The specific statement from Sony read: “Sony Computer Entertainment America filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone, 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. 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.”
Meanwhile, the Bridgestone Wii commercial has been scrubbed of Kevin/Jerry, both on air and on YouTube. A few stills, like the one here, still exist. It may be the last time you see old Kevin/Jerry for a while.
Hard to believe, though, that an actor can get so typecast just from TV commercials.
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Hardly fictional but still a character is Page Mader, head of race tire development for Firestone Racing, who hung up his pyrometer and inflation gauge after some 40 years with Bridgestone Americas.
Page spent 33 of those years (he started with the old Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in Akron) working in race tire development, and gracing the pits and paddocks of hundreds of tracks around the world.
He was integral in creating Firestone drag racing tires, sprint car tires, race tires for all manner of modified and sports cars and weekend warrior cars. And he was the man who helped create the radials used in both the Firestone Indy Lights series and its big brother IndyCar Series.
Tires that he helped create have won dozens of Indy 500s.
Mader, who I got to know quite well in a past career life, was recognized by the racing community when he was asked to wave the checked flag, ringing down the 2012 season and his trackside career at the MAV TV 500, held Sept. 15 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
“Page has been a cornerstone of the Firestone Racing program for decades, so he undoubtedly is deserving of this honor and recognition as he heads into retirement,” said Al Speyer, executive director of racing for Bridgestone Americas. “He has always brought a tremendous passion for the sport and his insight has been invaluable regarding the design and development of what we believe are the finest race tires anywhere. We cannot think of a better way for Page to close the final chapter of his racing career than by waving the checkered flag at his final race.”
And it was a great way to get Page started on his next career – life.
