Gleaned from Marketing Magazine.
Sony movie ads quoted non-existent critic
Sony Pictures Entertainment must pay US$1.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the studio of citing a fake movie critic in ads for several films.
Moviegoers who saw the films Vertical Limit, A Knight’s Tale, The Animal, Hollow Man or The Patriot during their original theatre runs must file a claim to be eligible for a $5 per ticket reimbursement, lawyer Norman Blumenthal said this week. He represented a group of filmgoers who sued Sony Pictures in 2001. Any funds remaining after claims are satisfied would go to charity, he said.
Sony Pictures declined comment. The studio did not admit any liability under terms of the settlement.
After the dispute came to light, the studio temporarily suspended two executives and promised to monitor its publicity and advertising more closely.
The lawsuit, originally filed by two California moviegoers, claimed the ads fooled the plaintiffs into seeing A Knight’s Tale.
In one ad for the action-comedy, a critic identified as David Manning of The Ridgefield Press was quoted calling star Heath Ledger “this year’s hottest new star!”
In an ad for The Animal, Manning was quoted declaring, “The producing team of Big Daddy has delivered another winner!”
At the time, The Ridgefield Press, a small weekly newspaper in Connecticut, did not have a movie critic named David Manning, the lawsuit said.
–Associated Press
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