Didn't Like the Movie? Sue the Producer

Published on August 3, 2005 By Gideon MacLeish In Current Events

Sony Pictures has been sued for using fake movie reviews to sell several of its movies. Because it was a class action suit, moviegoers can file to receive a $5 per person reimbursement.

What happened, basically, is this: in the promotion of several of its movies, Sony's PR department cited a "David Manning of the Ridgefield Press". There was no such person, and the filers of the suit said they had been mislead by bogus reviews into seeing the movie.

COME ON, FOLKS!

Every movie buff in the world knows that the majority of movie reviews are carefully spun, carefully crafted blurbs from a larger review that is usually less favorable. The signature ellipses should be a dead giveaway if nothing else. Advertisers have one goal in mind, and that is to sell their product, in this case the product being movie tickets.

Sony's actions certainly were wrong. And even stupid, given the chance that they could have easily had a disassociated person drop a few comments onto online message boards to get the quips they were seeking. But the actions of those who sued Sony could set a disturbing trend of suing the producer for a bad movie because of the favorable advertising promoting it.

Think it's too late to sue Lucas for "Howard the Duck?"

Comments

Dr Guy

on Aug 03, 2005

I liked Howard the Duck!

Beak me baby!

foreverserenity

on Aug 03, 2005

There goes the "world" of movie goers! Anyone who hopped unto that gravy train was just too darn greedy!

bakerstreet

on Aug 03, 2005

If you think about it, though, the government gets all up in arms about false claims from hair tonics and such that cost peanuts. The last time we went to the movies it cost $30, and some people go all the time. I bet if you add up the cost to Americans from false advertising in quack medicine, and from the entertainment industry, I'd say we get bilked worse from Hollywood by a wide margin.

Sure, it's frivolous. The only reason these things happen is because of their eventual status as a class action. No individual gives enough of a damn to sue if they are only going to get $5. If, on the other hand, the lawfirm gets 30% of the millions handed out $5 at a time... well, you can see in whose interest the frivolous crap actually is...

joeKnowledge

on Aug 03, 2005

Think it's too late to sue Lucas for "Howard the Duck?"

NO!!!!

SATYROBE

on Aug 04, 2005

If theres a follow up to HtheDuck, may exist already, consider sueing followup instead if u like sueing, saying they caused damage by not including bita mary jane in the ticket plus 2 condoms to endure that movie with someone nice whos ticket u were also paying for.

Sony had someone invent an author, the inventor was an author him(her)self, why not just put in inventors name instead. They got money, why do they have to fake much, some products are pretty good. U dont want to sue certain other Lucases we know of right here, thinking they are poor amateurs unless it turns out 1 day there is pooled method in their madness

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