David Manning (fictitious writer)
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David Manning was a fictitious film critic, created by a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation around July 2000 to give consistently good reviews for releases from Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures. Several blurbs posted under the name "David Manning" were written for the medieval action/drama A Knight's Tale (citing Heath Ledger as "this year's hottest new star!") and Rob Schneider's comedy The Animal ("Another winner!"), which generally received poor reviews amongst real critics.
He often signed as Dave Manning and falsely claimed to be a writer for the Ridgefield Press. Newsweek reporter John Horn discovered that the Ridgefield Press, the paper that Manning had been "working" for, had never heard of him. He disclosed the truth about Manning in an article printed in June 2001. The article came around the same time as an announcement that Sony had used employees posing as moviegoers in television commercials to praise Mel Gibson's film The Patriot. These occurrences, in tandem, raised questions and controversy about ethics in movie marketing practices.
On 3 August 2005, Sony made an out-of-court settlement and agreed to refund $5 to anyone who saw Hollow Man, The Animal, The Patriot, A Knight's Tale or Vertical Limit in American theatres between 3 August 2000 and 31 October 2001.
Sources
- John Horn. "The Reviewer Who Wasn't There; Sony resorts to some questionable marketing practices to promote new movies." Newsweek Web Exclusive. June 2, 2001.
External links
- [Museum of Hoaxes: David Manning, Film Critic]
- [Official Court Notice Rezec, et al. v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.]
- [Fans win $1.5m over fake critic] (BBC)
- [Ridgefield Press]
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