It looks like one of the great spokescharacters of recent years has met an ignominious end. Sony is suing Jerry Lambert, the great commercial actor who has played Kevin Butler, a wise-cracking PlayStation exec, for several years, because he was seen playing a Wii driving game in a recent Bridgestone ad. Kotaku has the statement from Sony: "Sony Computer Entertainment America filed a law suit against Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek Inc."—the entity which reportedly handles Lambert's business affairs—"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." You can see the Bridgestone spot below, which was later edited to remove Lambert and appears to have been scotched entirely now. Sadly, to see Kevin Butler in action, you'll have to watch unauthorized YouTube clips—as PlayStation appears to have scrubbed its own channel clean of his offending visage. No wonder he suddenly stopped tweeting at the end of August. Ad agency Deutsch declined to comment.
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