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reporter John Horn discovered that the newspaper had never heard of him. The story emerged in mid-2001, around the same time as an announcement that Sony had used employees posing as moviegoers in television commercials to praise the
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culture You just take the sound bite. If they didn't say it exactly the way you want, you just take the part of what they said that you do want and if they don't say what you want, you just make it up yourself anyway."
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to demonstrate to the general public that the movie is worth their money and time. However, studios are given a lot of leeway on how quotations are represented. While advertisement campaigns must be approved by the
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107:("Another winner!"), the latter of which generally received poor reviews by real critics. The story emerged in mid-2001 in connection with the film
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Manning was named after a friend of
Matthew Cramer, the Sony marketing executive responsible for the insertions. Manning was credited to
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Please help improve this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged and removed.
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79:") was a pseudonym used by a marketing executive around July 2000 to give consistently good reviews for releases from
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that actually published film reviews written by the father-and-son team of Mark and
Jonathan Schumann.
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conducted an in-studio interview with David
Manning. The voice of Manning was provided by a computer
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MetaCritic and RottenTomato rankings for the movies reviewed by
Manning
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402:""Did Sony Once Create a Fake Film Critic to Praise Its Movies?""
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The usage of quotations in advertisement is an important part of
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and agreed to refund $ 5 each to dissatisfied customers who saw
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article about the role critics play in movie advertising,
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in
American theaters as a result of Manning's reviews.
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marketing executive Terry Press remarked, "We are a
481:"Sony ordered to pay $ 1.5m for film-goer hoax"
174:During an investigation into Manning's quotes,
125:. Film studios use quotations of reviews from
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524:Rezec v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.
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400:McKittrick, Christopher (1 August 2016).
57:Learn how and when to remove this message
97:as "this year's hottest new star!") and
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527:, No. 160586 (Cal. App. Jan. 27, 2004)
479:Elsworth, Catherine (5 August 2005).
313:"Thumbs Up or Down on Movie Critics?"
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375:"Rolling the Credits -- and Quotes"
198:On June 10, 2001, on an episode of
427:. HarryShearer.com. Archived from
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571:21st-century pseudonymous writers
551:Nonexistent people used in hoaxes
423:Shearer, Harry (June 10, 2001).
338:Beam, Christopher (2009-11-25).
215:On August 3, 2005, Sony made an
167:, a small weekly newspaper from
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461:from the original on 2021-12-17
340:"'[Best] Film Ever!!!'"
271:"The Reviewer Who Wasn't There"
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373:Klady, Leonard (1987-09-06).
556:Hoaxes in the United States
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132:Motion Picture Association
576:Film advertising material
269:Horn, John (2001-06-02).
546:2000 in American cinema
217:out-of-court settlement
169:Ridgefield, Connecticut
138:as possible. In a 1999
29:Some of this article's
69:Fictitious film critic
164:The Ridgefield Press
561:Journalistic hoaxes
509:David Manning entry
146:DreamWorks Pictures
566:Columbia Pictures
380:Los Angeles Times
318:Los Angeles Times
210:voice synthesizer
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541:2000 hoaxes
309:Shaw, David
234:The Patriot
195:practices.
188:The Patriot
110:The Patriot
83:subsidiary
34:may not be
535:Categories
465:2021-12-17
435:January 5,
386:2024-04-24
359:2024-04-24
324:2024-04-24
291:2024-04-24
253:References
228:The Animal
222:Hollow Man
183:Mel Gibson
150:sound bite
117:Background
104:The Animal
101:'s comedy
511:from the
490:14 August
425:"le Show"
354:1091-2339
459:Archived
276:Newsweek
177:Newsweek
36:reliable
204:, host
201:Le Show
157:Details
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408:8 May
345:Slate
281:MSNBC
243:, or
185:film
492:2015
437:2009
410:2017
350:ISSN
136:spin
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