Sony apologises for White/Black campaign

[CptStern]

from last week:

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=109037

Sony have now issued an apology for that advertising campaign

Sony has pulled a controversial European ad campaign for its upcoming PSP White. The electronics giant also issued an apology to those who may have been offended by the ads, one of which, posted on a billboard, portrayed a white woman squeezing the face of a black woman.

In a statement, Nick Sharples, Sony's Director of Corporate Communications in Europe, said, "We... recognize that people have a wide variety of perceptions about such imagery and we wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended. In future, we will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery, and will take due account of the increasingly global reach of such local adverts, and their potential impact in other countries."

http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/322476.html

give me a break you knew exactly what the reaction would be. ..it was a publicity stunt that worked/backfired. Pretty gutless if you ask me ..Benetton evetually won over critics with similiar ads in the 80's/90's and they successfully reinvigorated the benetton name

http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/322476.html

 

[Beerdude26]

Yeah what Stern said

 

[destrukt]

lol @ people getting all worked up over something like this.

i don't think sony should've apologised, but they had to to please the sensationalist/paranoid people.

meh, i don't like white handhelds too much, hence why i'm waiting for the black ds lite to be released here. D:

 

[99.vikram]

i don't think sony should've apologised, but they had to to please the sensationalist/paranoid people.

I'm tired of the bullsh*t excuses people give to justify the imagery, like "you see what you want to see".
Race was what was highlighted in the images. Period.

 

[CptStern]

no it wasnt ..notice how both people are represented in absolutes ..the white model was dressed in all white, the black model in all black ..they personified the psp ...if you only look at the surface then sure it can be misconstrued as a race issue ...but it's not

 

[DreadLord]

People get offended too easily.

 

[15357]

Indeed.

 

[Raeven0]

People get offended too easily.

This post wins. The people who got worked up over the ads are dumb.

Of course, it didn't help that the sites giving information about the ads presented them in the most racist, out-of-context light possible.

 

[Dekstar]

People get offended too easily.

TAKE THAT BACK!

/cries

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Well everyone knows PSP is coming out in white now, so Sony wins.

 

[Raeven0]

Well everyone knows PSP is coming out in white now, so Sony wins.

If I had money, I'd buy six. And I don't even like consoles.

 

[VictimOfScience]

I've got a white DS and I love it. If the PSP ever comes down to under $150, then I will get a white one of those too.

Apologizing for the ad? Gimme a break. Thats a sham. They had every intention of creating a talked-about controversy to generate brand awareness. And they accomplished what they wanted to. People now know about the new color, like Glenn just said. Bad publicity > no publicity (again).

 

[jimbo118]

oversensitive people 1
common sense 0

 

[99.vikram]

tell-it-like-it-is 1
"it's not racism" 0

 

[CptStern]

look it's pretty clear what their intent was ...any gamer should be able to pick up on it

 

[Parlez]

People get upset over the most stupid little things. That is all I have to say about this subject.

 

[Shippi]

.

 

[Asuka]

I liked the poster/ad. Shame idiots think its racist. OMG BLACK RACIST! Cool kids.

Yup, people get offended way too easily. I notice people just about ignored the other versions of the advert and only talked about the white woman squeezing the face of the black woman. The only racists are those making a big deal out of that particular billboard imo..

AMEN!

 

[99.vikram]

/sneaks out the back door

 

[Murray_H]

TAKE THAT BLACK!

Oh no, the advert has worked!

 

[el Chi]

give me a break you knew exactly what the reaction would be. ..it was a publicity stunt that worked/backfired. Pretty gutless if you ask me

Of course they knew what the reaction would be; of course it was a publicity stunt and them apologising for it is yet more of the stunt! Come on, they couldn't get away with not apologising and by apologising, it makes more headlines and thus is more free publicity.
It's not gutless, it's tried-and-tested and rather sharp.

 

[CptStern]

Of course they knew what the reaction would be; of course it was a publicity stunt and them apologising for it is yet more of the stunt! Come on, they couldn't get away with not apologising and by apologising, it makes more headlines and thus is more free publicity.
It's not gutless, it's tried-and-tested and rather sharp.

I demand an apology for this apology!

 

[Qonfused]

People get offended too easily.

Truth.

 

[el Chi]

I demand an apology for this apology!

 

[craig]

I quite liked the advert to be quite honest and find it rediculous that people felt the need to complain about it.

PSPs in white do look damn ugly though.

I'd be also curious to know what the outcome would have been had nintendo done a campaign for the DS black's release (but the opposite way round of course)... very few people would have complained I dare say!

 

[DreadLord]

Straight white men are the only people you can make fun of without expecting a protest the following morning.

 

[Zeus]

Straight white men are the only people you can make fun of without expecting a protest the following morning.

It's funny because its true

 

[craig]

^ as Billy Connolly said. Sadly it's true though. We live in a society that believes it's fair and just (and indeed it should be), but because of the worlds past indiscretions the simple fact is it isn't.