Sony's racially charged PSP ad

2006-07-05 06:23:46

#1

Milk.org: Bringing Sexy Back; +270|6768|UK

Ad critic: Sony's racially charged PSP ad

We've decided to run ad critic early this week after this one landed on our doorsteps. The latest in a long line of questionable marketing decisions by Sony, this ad -- gracing the streets of Amsterdam and the Dutch PSP site -- promotes the upcoming white PSP with the racially charged image of a white woman grabbing a black woman's face. Other images on the website offer additional avenues of interpretation.

While we think it's hardly debatable that the ad is offensive (debate ensues), why would Sony -- and their "disruptive" advertising partners at TBWA -- think this ad appropriate? Any Dutch readers care to offer a regional point-of-view on local racial mores? Any black readers, both in the Netherlands and elsewhere, want to offer your initial reactions to the image? Perhaps most importantly (this is an advertisement after all), will this fulfill the contention that generating word-of-mouth is the metric by which to gauge the success of an ad, no matter the method?

What do you think?

It does kind of have a WTF? factor when you see the advert though.

https://www.pspworld.com/sony-psp/images/white-psp-4.jpg

Last edited by Milk.org (2006-07-05 06:31:23)

2006-07-05 06:25:59

#2

PspRpg-7: -; +961|6690

Wow that advertisement certainly is..."WTF" thought provoking...And no, the 'Psp' in my name does NOT mean Playsation Portable.

2006-07-05 06:26:33

#3

Zeon.: l33t sp33k Specialist; +159|6550|Behind j00OMFG HAX, Bristol UK

Wow I wouldn't expect Sony to come up with something like that.

2006-07-05 06:29:39

#4

acidkiller187: Member; +123|6622

Portable White WTF!! [I don't get it ] So they got a Black one. Why not a White one? There being racial now

Last edited by acidkiller187 (2006-07-05 06:33:33)

2006-07-05 06:39:51

#5

Milk.org: Bringing Sexy Back; +270|6768|UK

acidkiller187 wrote:
Portable White WTF!! [I don't get it ] So they got a Black one. Why not a White one? There being racial now

It's not to do with the actual consoles themselves it's about the way they advertise it (see pic). It could be considered racist or just another way for the advertisers to try and shock us to make an impact. If the latter is it justified?

2006-07-05 06:47:52

#6

Zeon.: l33t sp33k Specialist; +159|6550|Behind j00OMFG HAX, Bristol UK

Lol well i'm not getting another, I got mine back in July and messed with all the homebrew and hacked it left, right and centre..

2006-07-05 06:50:15

#7

mKmalfunction: Infamous meleeKings cult. Est. 2003 B.C.; +82|6532|The Lost Highway

Everyones a racist.

2006-07-05 06:50:38

#8

whilsky: FUBAR; +129|6560|Bristol UK

wow really makes you thing what fu*k*ng planet they were on when coming up with that

2006-07-05 06:51:51

#9

JahManRed: wank; +646|6620|IRELAND

I agree that it has the WTF factor, but when you think about it, its not racist. So in a round about way the ad excects have done there job well, got us talking about it by being borderline offensive but not quite crossing the line IMO.

2006-07-05 06:52:17

#10

TC><Injecter: Member; +4|6820|Berlin, Germany

I dont think thatz racist. I think its the shockfactor and the people represent the color... So if the old one was green the grabbed woman wouldbe green. Not racist.

2006-07-05 06:53:30

#11

mavrick 3399: EA GAMES PATCH EVERYTHING; +102|6534|Doncaster UK

that picture is really really bad. sony gonna get flamed for that.

they probably payed some one a ton of money to make that advert to.

2006-07-05 06:54:06

#12

parthian1000: Member; +8|6653|The Barbary Coast

I think this ad is based on the premise that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Even if they pull it tomorrow its had the desired effect from a marketing point of view. I hate those souless marketing shit-sacks. In the words of Bill Hicks:

By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself ... You are the ruiner of all things good, seriously. No this is not a joke, you're going, "there's going to be a joke coming," there's no fucking joke coming. You are Satan's spawn filling the world with bile and garbage.

2006-07-05 06:55:36

#13

JeSTeR_Player1: Flying Solo; +98|6762|Canada, Ont

How about, Don't Buy stuff from Sony?

Sony is in their last few years because they suck .

PSP Sucks
PS3 Is Weak Compared to Competition
They Lost Rights to Gran Theift Auto
EverQuest 2 Flopped on them... Lots of money Lost...

R.I.P Sony

???? - 2008

2006-07-05 06:57:14

#14

Use0fWeapons: Get repairs here; +60|6525|Doncaster - UK

hmm, intentionally designed to be controversial i think.
I reckon that its to obviously close to the bone to be accidental. Its a shame they think they have to do this sort of thing.

2006-07-05 07:00:31

#15

bruisehound: Member; +14|6772

Given what's going on in the Netherlands right now, that's inexcusable. It's obviously playing to the growing xenophobia there.

2006-07-05 07:07:11

#16

CackNBallz: Member; +45|6735|Toronto, Canada

This is a disgusting advertisement. Through the body language and postures, the black woman is submitting to her white master. Much like a master would grab dog by the snout to get its attention and punish it.

Look at the tightened face of the white woman, the aggressive stance, etc. This is bad taste if nothing else, but if this was shown in North America, you would bet that it would be pulled down in less than a day because of threats of litigation.

2006-07-05 07:09:35

#17

mavrick 3399: EA GAMES PATCH EVERYTHING; +102|6534|Doncaster UK

JeSTeR_Player1 wrote:
How about, Don't Buy stuff from Sony?

Sony is in their last few years because they suck .

PSP Sucks
PS3 Is Weak Compared to Competition
They Lost Rights to Gran Theift Auto
EverQuest 2 Flopped on them... Lots of money Lost...

R.I.P Sony

???? - 2008

i dont know how you can say PS3 is weak compared to competion, have you played on one???
i own a 360 bought a flashy hdtv for it is the 360 worth the money NO, i hate it but will keep it there will be good games in the future. (i hope)

lost the rights to GTA, um no they havent microsoft just fronted the same amount of money as sony this time to allow the game to be released on the same day both consoles.

everquest2 know some people that play that but most are on WOW so you got a point there mate.

psp sucks, well had mine (jap import) since day one it has been collect dust for a while till recently when locoroco was released , so kinda agree/ kinda dont

2006-07-05 08:08:28

#18

Karnall: Member; +8|6528|Hampshire, UK

Pretty obvious they made the advert simply to boost sales through word of mouth, think about it "Hey did you see that dodgy new PSP advert?", if the ad was normal, people talk less.

A company's main concern is money, this advert will likely boost turnover a bit (albeit by being borderline racist), they win... i guess.

2006-07-05 14:00:10

#19

PekkaA: Member; +36|6657|Finland

If there was a black woman grabbing white womans face nobody would react. I see nothing bad on that one, maybe because my country has no history of slavery or racism - and therefore I don't owe anything to black, yellow or green.

2006-07-05 14:02:24

#20

PekkaA: Member; +36|6657|Finland

CackNBallz wrote:
This is a disgusting advertisement. Through the body language and postures, the black woman is submitting to her white master. Much like a master would grab dog by the snout to get its attention and punish it.

Look at the tightened face of the white woman, the aggressive stance, etc. This is bad taste if nothing else, but if this was shown in North America, you would bet that it would be pulled down in less than a day because of threats of litigation.

Wow, you have wild imagination. To me it seems more like a dominant lesbian is preparing to get some from her black girlfriend.

2006-07-14 00:05:59

#21

eMarine: Gorgonnash PVP; +119|6836|Sacramento, Cal

A "white" psp is fine, its just like how Apple made their imac's. However the add its self, is IMHO is offensive.

https://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a187/eMarine/Other/me2.jpg

Last edited by eMarine (2006-07-14 00:09:12)

2006-07-14 00:13:02

#22

spastic bullet: would like to know if you are on crack; +77|6533|vancouver

That ad fills me with deliciously naughty white pride. I can't wait for Sony to release a yellow PSP.

2006-07-14 00:13:15

#23

Buckles: Cheeky Keen; +329|6548|Kent, UK

political correctness gone wrong
see, personally, i'm not racist or predjudiced
I hate everyone equally

2006-07-14 00:18:16

#24

TheNaziPredator: Member; +15|6566

Milk.org wrote:
WTF?

2006-07-14 00:24:42

#25

duk0r: Administrator; +306|6660|Austin, TX

parthian1000 wrote:
I think this ad is based on the premise that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Even if they pull it tomorrow its had the desired effect from a marketing point of view. I hate those souless marketing shit-sacks. In the words of Bill Hicks:

By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself ... You are the ruiner of all things good, seriously. No this is not a joke, you're going, "there's going to be a joke coming," there's no fucking joke coming. You are Satan's spawn filling the world with bile and garbage.

QFE
Bill Hicks would be going insane this day in age.

https://bf3s.com/sigs/a3a6d1102d14bf2f7e266fba7f728dc2cc38b316.png

BF2S Forums Sony's racially charged PSP ad

acidkiller187 wrote:

JeSTeR_Player1 wrote:

CackNBallz wrote:

Milk.org wrote:

parthian1000 wrote:

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