Attack of the 60-ft Tron Guy!!

rottydaddy

rottydaddy

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So I had some work to do in Times Square last night, and I saw a familiar face... :D
 

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jmaynard said:
Thanks for the picture. I knew they were using it there, but hadn't seen a picture of it.
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I've got a question, feel free to ignore it, when South Park used you "likeness" did they contact you in any way before that?
 
Henning said:
I've got a question, feel free to ignore it, when South Park used you "likeness" did they contact you in any way before that?
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I have a follow up to Henning's question. Do you get compensated by Nasdaq or other companies that use your image? Again, if its too personal, feel free to not answer. Just curious about how this works.
 
Henning said:
I've got a question, feel free to ignore it, when South Park used you "likeness" did they contact you in any way before that?
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No, and as I understand it, they never do. I wish they had: they got my voice rather badly wrong...

Anthony said:
I have a follow up to Henning's question. Do you get compensated by Nasdaq or other companies that use your image? Again, if its too personal, feel free to not answer. Just curious about how this works.
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The Times Square image is on the NASDAQ display, but it's for the Microsoft "I'm a PC" campaign. I do get compensated for commercial use of my image in advertising.
 
jmaynard said:
No, and as I understand it, they never do. I wish they had: they got my voice rather badly wrong...
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Did you ever contact them to over dub it?:D You know you're a "Somebody" when you make South Park!:goofy:
 
jmaynard said:
The Times Square image is on the NASDAQ display, but it's for the Microsoft "I'm a PC" campaign. I do get compensated for commercial use of my image in advertising.
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Thanks Jay. That is very cool!
 
jmaynard said:
The Times Square image is on the NASDAQ display, but it's for the Microsoft "I'm a PC" campaign. I do get compensated for commercial use of my image in advertising.
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Jay -- weren't you involved in a long, contentious thread here about a month ago about the superiority of the Macintosh???
 
jmaynard said:
No, and as I understand it, they never do. I wish they had: they got my voice rather badly wrong...


The Times Square image is on the NASDAQ display, but it's for the Microsoft "I'm a PC" campaign. I do get compensated for commercial use of my image in advertising.
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Ok, now how about Disney? I imagine they get real concerned about their property, and now Microsoft is using it.
 
Henning said:
Did you ever contact them to over dub it?:D You know you're a "Somebody" when you make South Park!:goofy:
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I'm told they never use the real celebrity voice, so I doubt they'd be interested.

dmccormack said:
Jay -- weren't you involved in a long, contentious thread here about a month ago about the superiority of the Macintosh???
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Yes.

mikea said:
Ok, now how about Disney? I imagine they get real concerned about their property, and now Microsoft is using it.
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So far, they haven't said a word. Since it's a common opinion in the Tron community - including the guy who wrote and directed the original movie, Steven Lisberger - that I'm at least partially responsible for the resurgence of interest in the property, I suspect they'll keep quiet about it. Until they do say something, I refuse to worry.
 
mikea said:
Ok, now how about Disney? I imagine they get real concerned about their property, and now Microsoft is using it.
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Interesting point, but since it is not a direct image, rather his interpretation of it, and they put it out to the public, this one probably would slide through. Besides, it's not portraying a negative image so they may see a bump in video sales from people who forgot all about Tron, or who have never seen it, so in those regards it's free advertising for them. I suspect they'll let this one slide.
 
jmaynard said:
...
So far, they haven't said a word. Since it's a common opinion in the Tron community - including the guy who wrote and directed the original movie, Steven Lisberger - that I'm at least partially responsible for the resurgence of interest in the property, I suspect they'll keep quiet about it. Until they do say something, I refuse to worry.
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Henning said:
Interesting point, but since it is not a direct image, rather his interpretation of it, and they put it out to the public, this one probably would slide through. Besides, it's not portraying a negative image so they may see a bump in video sales from people who forgot all about Tron, or who have never seen it, so in those regards it's free advertising for them. I suspect they'll let this one slide.
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I suspect the evil mouse is waiting for Jay to have a large enough nest egg for the lawyers to bother with getting a judge to tell him cease and desist and turn it all over. :rolleyes:
 
mikea said:
I suspect the evil mouse is waiting for Jay to have a large enough nest egg for the lawyers to bother with getting a judge to tell him cease and desist and turn it all over. :rolleyes:
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No, I think that would be a costly mistake. Disney operates on Good Will, and if they lose 5 families a week at a Disney Theme Park, it'll cost them more than "Tron Guy" will ever be worth. People can be very fickle. Besides, if they let it go long enough, as public as it has been, it really weakens any case they can have in court unless he does something to hurt the image of Disney, then they will pull out the stops and feed Jay to the Croc on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride....
 
Henning said:
No, I think that would be a costly mistake. Disney operates on Good Will, and if they lose 5 families a week at a Disney Theme Park, it'll cost them more than "Tron Guy" will ever be worth. People can be very fickle. Besides, if they let it go long enough, as public as it has been, it really weakens any case they can have in court unless he does something to hurt the image of Disney, then they will pull out the stops and feed Jay to the Croc on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride....
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C'Mon, Henning. Disney has no qualms about p*ing off 600,000 U.S. pilots and their families with the bogus Mickey TFRs renewed each year by bought-and-paid for language in the national budget...although I will agree that Jay has many orders of magnitude more recognition with the public.
 
Why exactly does a PC maker want to use Jay's image to advertise? I truly mean no offense, but I don't even think Jay thinks of himself as an underwear model.
 
steingar said:
Why exactly does a PC maker want to use Jay's image to advertise? I truly mean no offense, but I don't even think Jay thinks of himself as an underwear model.
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They'd want to latch on to an Internet meme to show how hip the guy in the brown suit is.
 
steingar said:
Why exactly does a PC maker want to use Jay's image to advertise? I truly mean no offense, but I don't even think Jay thinks of himself as an underwear model.
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It is for a Windows based PC. What better spokesman than a representation of 1980's computer technology?? :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
steingar said:
Why exactly does a PC maker want to use Jay's image to advertise?
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They went looking for folks who were distinguished in their own way, and contribute to our culture at large. I guess I qualify. :)

I truly mean no offense, but I don't even think Jay thinks of himself as an underwear model.
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There are lots of people out there who look better in spandex than I do, but none of them are the Tron Guy...for better or worse.
 
Henning said:
No, I think that would be a costly mistake. Disney operates on Good Will, and if they lose 5 families a week at a Disney Theme Park, it'll cost them more than "Tron Guy" will ever be worth.
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Disney once sued a day care because the day care had painted Disney characters on one of the walls. As I recall, the publicity motivated Warner Bros to come in and paint over the Disney characters with Bugs & friends.
 
The other day I was searching for some clip art on a Microsoft web site when Jay's image filled up the right side of my screen in an "I'm a PC" ad.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Disney once sued a day care because the day care had painted Disney characters on one of the walls. As I recall, the publicity motivated Warner Bros to come in and paint over the Disney characters with Bugs & friends.
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There is a guy in Chicago who has a handful of hot dog stands he called, "McDucks." He had a very minimally changed Donald - with the sailorcap and all - on the signs until he got contacted/sued by Disney. I think he went through several revisions and now it's just "Ducks" with no picture.
 
skyflyer8 said:
The other day I was searching for some clip art on a Microsoft web site when Jay's image filled up the right side of my screen in an "I'm a PC" ad.
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Ah, but you're one of a very small number of people who can say you've been flying with the Tron Guy in his airplane...
 
mikea said:
There is a guy in Chicago who has a handful of hot dog stands he called, "McDucks." He had a very minimally changed Donald - with the sailorcap and all - on the signs until he got contacted/sued by Disney. I think he went through several revisions and now it's just "Ducks" with no picture.
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I am surprised that McDonald'stm also did not come after him.
 
You know its funny, I usually hate internet memes so much, I can't wait for them to get old and dissappear. KTHXBAI drives me insane, ORLY, "Leave Britney Alone" that freakish little gopher thingie, FTBRG, etc....

But man, I think Tron Guy is the first one that I am actually championing for. Must be because Jay's a cool guy, while every other one of the internet phenoms either started with, or is surrounded with jokes for people.

I CAN HAZ CHEESEBURGER!
 
smigaldi said:

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080919/tron-guy-makes-im-a-pc-cameo/
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It is SO appropriate that they have a pile of partially assembled PC towers in the background. A PC is never finished.

I once asked Randy Suess, the guy who built the first BBS, if he had any computers that were assembled. Nope.

FlyNE said:
(The full version of what Scott posted...)

http://imapc.lifewithoutwalls.com/?u=TronGuy&icid=realpc
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The video halts, and stutters on my Mac/Firefox. Figures.
 
smigaldi said:
Windows does not fully support open Internet standards.
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:D:D:D:D:D Embrace and extend and kill.

The nerve of these internet guys to do things non-Windows.

I saw it took utilization to 100%. Silverlight, huh?
 
SkyHog said:
But man, I think Tron Guy is the first one that I am actually championing for.
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Thanks!

Must be because Jay's a cool guy, while every other one of the internet phenoms either started with, or is surrounded with jokes for people.
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I can't speak for anyone else, but I decided when it started snowballing that I was going to stay just who I was. It probably helped that I was older than most folks who become famous on the net (or, for that matter, who first became famous in real life), so I had a good sense of just who I was to begin with. I decided I didn't like the idea of being someone like the celebrities you hear about who treat "the little people" like dirt; I wasn't that way before I became famous, so why should I be that way afterwards? Similarly, I don't charge a bunch of money just for appearing somewhere, unlike at least one Internet celebrity I know of. If someone wants me to appear commercially, they'll get to cover my expenses and pay me a fee; for noncommercial appearances, I'll just ask for some help with expenses (and if I like the idea, or the event, or its sponsor enough, I'll even pass on that if they need the help). I'm not in it for the money. I'm just out to have a good time.

My participation on the net, in forums such as this one and on sites like LiveJournal, is the same way. I've been around the net for 20 years. I'm not going to let my change in circumstance alter that. I do have to admit I get a kick out of the reactions I get when I pop into someone's blog and leave a comment, though... :)
 
jmaynard said:
Ah, but you're one of a very small number of people who can say you've been flying with the Tron Guy in his airplane...
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I'm privileged enough to be part of that select group, too. :)

Jay, anywhere else where the full ad can be viewed? Microsoft wants to install some software on my laptop to view the video, which I don't want to do.

By the way, I think it's really neat that you got in and this. And as to those who comment on his being an avid Mac user - if you can get paid by the evil empire while still speaking against it, what's wrong with that? I'd do the same! :yes:
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Jay, anywhere else where the full ad can be viewed? Microsoft wants to install some software on my laptop to view the video, which I don't want to do.
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It works fine for me without Silverlight installed...Safari complains, and then runs the Flash version just fine.

By the way, I think it's really neat that you got in and this. And as to those who comment on his being an avid Mac user - if you can get paid by the evil empire while still speaking against it, what's wrong with that? I'd do the same! :yes:
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All I'll say about that is that they knew that I'm a Mac user from reading my LJ before they asked me, I haven't said a word I don't stand behind (and won't), and, like everyone else, I do use Microsoft products - and yes, in a virtual machine on my Mac. Microsoft says that a Mac can be a PC too, after all.

Now, if Ford were to come to me for a commercial, I'd tell them to take a hike. I could not, in good faith, say anything that would help the company make money. Fortunately, that's not very likely to happen.
 
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