I mean, Sony is doing just fine, but looking back, he was actually a funny company mascot character thing for a couple years there.

As hammy as his lines are, I still like this weird remix thing that GameTrailers made to send off the PS3, leading up to the PS4 announcement. It's what reminded me of Kevin Butler.

We all serve one master. His name is Kevin Butler.

As do I, that guy was great. I wasn't a fan of all his ads, but when he pulled a framed photo of Jack Tretton out of his drawer and whispered "You ARE the boss of me," I loved him.

I really really enjoyed the KB ads, they were one of the few company ads (along with maybe Apple) that I actually went out of my way to watch.

I didn't know that Kevin Butler isn't actually a person until just now. He's a character played by an actor.

@believer258 said:

Wait, did you think the actor's name was just Kevin Butler, or did you think Kevin Butler was actually some executive at Sony that just happened to be incredibly comfortable on camera? I need to know how deep this goes.

I love that the actor's name is Jerry Lambert; it's actually almost as great as Kevin Butler.

Yeah, it's unfortunate that Sony decided to sue him over something so stupid as simply appearing in an ad with a Wii. There could have been more great Kevin Butler ads.

Definitely. His maniacal laugh in the GT5 trailer always busts me up!

His E3 performance was just...something else

@mariachimacabre said:

Yeah, it's unfortunate, but I think they were done using him in ads by that point anyway. I just looked it up, and that Bridgestone ad with the Wii that got the actor in trouble came out in September 2012; however, there hadn't been a new Kevin Butler ad since late 2011 (I'm not clear on the exact month or dates, but there was an Uncharted 3 one, and maybe a couple after that, but definitely nothing later than December 2011).

Given that 8 months of 2012 had already gone by without a single Kevin Butler ad, I think Sony was done with the ad campaign. Companies as big as Sony don't like using the same advertising campaign for more than 2-3 years, even if it is as widely liked as the Kevin Butler ads were.

Maybe they were going to bring him back for some holiday 2012 ads, but there actually weren't many PS4 exclusives in holiday 2012 other than Playstation Allstars Battle Royale. Though what I wouldn't give to see a Kevin Butler ad for Journey, Unfinished Swan, or TOKYOJUNGLE.

The latter.

I just thought he was some super-hammy awesome executive who just happened to enjoy doing commercials. The fact that he isn't is really disappointing.

@believer258: Awww, sorry. Now I feel like I just told you that Santa Claus isn't real.

Whatever happened to that little black boy who really loved the PSP?

Sony parted ways with the advertising agency that cooked up Kevin Butler. You will never see the character again.

@bocam said:

Made by the same ad agency as Kevin Butler, but he didn't get nearly the same positive feedback as KB, plus nobody in North America really cared about the PSP, plus the Vita was on the horizon, so they canned Marcus ads way earlier than the Kevin Butler ads.

"We all serve one master, one king...and his name is gaming. FOREVER MAY HE REIGN!"

Seriously, in the auto-tune version, that part just gives me fucking GOOSEBUMPS!

It would be cool if he just made a last appearance at Sony's next E3 event promoting the PS4 live.

@toowalrus: That may be the greatest thing I've ever seen

@squidc00kie:

Hidekazu Yukawa. Look him up. You wouldn't be that far off with your assumption.

@jakob187 said:

It's oddly moving, in spite of being a line from a specific company's press conference. I guess his whole persona felt like it was talking to the kind of informed gamers we are (how many other Sony ad campaigns expect the viewer to have any familiarity with Jack Tretton?), instead of just speaking to the lowest common denominator like most other gaming ads (or just speaking largely in visuals).

Also, I still really wonder if he ever expected this gig doing commercials for Sony would turn him and his character, ever so briefly, into this video game icon that was popular enough to take the stage at an E3 press conference. It's weird when you think back on it.

All true but i thought the Marcus ads were kind of a bad clone of the Kevin Butler ads. Nobody wants some kid telling them that their ios games suck and they need a psp to play good games. Having a "Master Race" techy attitude does not win people over. Having a kid be the voice of that message is twice as bad.

The Kevin Butler ads had a bit more charm without talking down to people, while bringing back the spirit of having fun with video game ads that has been lost these last few gens. I wish sony keep up with them as well because they were fun and funny. These live action ads were cool but nobody other then gamers will care for them.