March 12, 2004
Settlement reached in Sony phony critic case
All studios are pretty liberal with their "pull-quoting," the process of extracting positive comments from critic's reviews for use in print ads. However, finding usable pull quotes for duds like The Animal and Hollow Man apparently proved so troblesome for Sony's marketing department that they created film critic "David Manning" out of thin air in 2000 to lavish cooked-up praise. Now it looks like all of the ill-gotten gains (meager as they probably were) are being taken away:
Filed on the behalf of "all consumers nationwide who paid to see any movie" on Manning's recommendation, the class-action suit sought injunctive relief, restitution, and "complete disgorgement of [Sony's] ill-gotten gains" — for Sony to make restitution to everyone who bought a ticket to the falsely advertised movies.
Are people really swayed by critics' proclamations about movies like Big Daddy? Whenever I go to see something with a high "mindless fun" quotient, I don't really pay attention to reviews.
At any rate, it looks like the real David Manning has stood up, taken notice, and wants his good name back...
Related Link:
CNN.com - Moviegoers to settle with studio after being lured by phony critic
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