A new line of Sony PSP ads touting the upcoming white PSP goes so far beyond reasonable decorum they defy description.
The ads, which have been rolled out in Amsterdam, are so racially charged it would take a four-year-old about two seconds to realize they’re just plain wrong. In the ads, a white woman with bad hair and a mean scowl is grabbing the face of a black woman. The writing on the ad simply proclaims: “PlayStation Portable White is coming.”
Makes me want to rush out and buy three or four PSPs – not!
Kind of makes you wonder who got paid to create this campaign and why. What the heck was Sony thinking? OK, it would appear as if Sony isn’t thinking, at all.
Per Joystiq, Sony, it seems, is claiming the ads are meant only to show the contrast of colors the PSP offers. They’re not meant to send any other message.
Well, that’s just great, but it still seems rather odd that looking on the Dutch PSP site it appears as if Sony’s trying to market the white PSP to whites and the black one to blacks.
Perhaps Sony really didn’t mean anything by it. Maybe they thought having ads where it appears as if one person is about to put a serious hurting on another is a great way to sell their new PSP. Maybe, just maybe, the racial issue never occurred to them.
Yeah, right! Sony's been in trouble before over its PSP ads with much less offensive material. They should know better.
And while there are some images shot for the campaign that have the black woman dominating the white woman, the question still remains: What the heck does this have to do with a portable gaming console?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Matt Paprocki
It's only racist if you want it to be. I really wonder what the reaction would be if the woman/PSP colors were swapped. I can't even fathom where you got the idea their marketing specific colors to certain people. It's an ad that's being way overreacted to.
2 - Sterfish
I think the problem with this campaign is not necessarily the black/white element but the way it's portrayed. Each of the three ads (white dominant, black dominant, and equal footing) implies that a battle (or violence) is about to happen. The fact that women represent the PSPs likely feeds into the notion that guys like to see women fight (or rather, women who are about to fight). If the violence element were removed, you'd probably remove the controversy.
As it stands, it's not really as daring a campaign as it could've been. There is a part of me that would've loved to have seen a black person represent the white PSP and a white person represent the black PSP. Maybe it's just me, but I think it would've been more striking visually to see a black person with snow white hair and a white person with jet black hair.
3 - Andrew Ogier
The ad is designed to cause controversy. Just like when music videos are banned, the controversy garners so much more attention that the song shoots up into the top end of the charts.
The advert is DESIGNED to cause outrage. Just look at it already. Every major computer based website is ranting and raving about these ads, either in defense of, or against them, and the campaign has everyone's eyes affixed onto it, giving the advert a much wider audience. The PSP is on the tips of everyone's lips now.
Fantastic marketing by Sony. Everyone's giving Sony EXACTLY what they wanted by writing posts about it.
4 - Rory
I have to agree with both of you, although everyone is saying 'oh, what tasteless adverts', Sony has now got lots of people talking about the PSP, and stolen some of the Wii's chat.
I think everyone who is actually looking beyond the differences in the PSP's colour is a bit racist themselves, if we live in a society where blacks and whites should be treated equally then we should not be looking at the two women and going 'oh its a white woman being violent to a black woman' we should be going 'oh there's two women fighting, and 'oh look there's a new PSP colour out'
This advert has caused even more Sony bashing to occur as well, can't we just give 'em a break? Remember this is the company who brought us the highly popular Walkman, the superb Sony Ericsson phones, the dominantly popular Playstation etc.
Everyone should just take a deep breath, and calm down, this advert has been WAY over reacted to.
5 - Shey
I think the real question comes down to what the writer asked: What the heck does this have to do with a portable gaming console?
6 - Kevin Cortez
...
"Squirrel, pleeeeassseee."
7 - gossett
in todays society you cannot have an ad that portrays a white person doing something negative to a black person whether its unintentional or not. sony knew this would happen and they knew it would be talked about. so the bottom line is sony is using racism to sell their product.
8 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
Here's a thought. If you aren't from Holland, shut up. It's an ad design to fit within their culture, not yours.
The ad is not racist, you only think it is because your culture has such a nasty history of racism that it's your gut reaction to label anything contrasting black and white as being racially biased. The fact is European countries don't have your history and don't jump to suck conclusions.
If you look at the ad it's cleary meant to contrast the 2 colours of the PSP system. They just happen to be Black and White.
Read this and it might offer further insight: Racism: A different view on the Issue
9 - Ken Edwards
(this is the op-ed I posted on my blog earlier)
Is the White PSP ad racist?
No.
Both Kotaku and Joystiq are reporting on a new ad Sony is running for the new (if you live in North America) white PSP. Of course both of these upstanding social institutions started the FUD off right with well written headlines.
They say "offensive" (Kotaku) and "racially charged" (Joystiq) but I say "bull shit." Of course hundreds of commenters hash out why or why not the ad has racial connotations to it.
The dominance card just doesn't fly, considering the third image. Not to mention that the symbolism that black and white PSP equals black and white human being is so plane and simple -- and quite frankly, brilliant marketing.
The people who are racist here are the people writing the articles and commenting on them. If you cannot understand symbolism then I am not sure you would understand racism to begin with.
Of course these are the people who say that Loco Roco is racist, because it has black (OMFG!) bad guys in it.
Chill out people. If you go looking for a black eye, you will likely find one.
What if it was a black man in that above ad? Huh? What would that mean?
Does it make me racist that I want a white PSP? Because I want a white PSP.
Oh and Kevin, your comment had me rolling, good one ;)
10 - gossett
are you guys retardedor something. how can you sit there and tell me the ad is not racism, unintentional or not...sony knows that its controversial thats the only reason why they did it to help sell..what some of you dumbass people are saying is that there was no other idea they could have come up with than a white girl pushing a black girl in the face to sell a product. who cares what country the ad is in its sony, people from everywhere are going to see it. stop the bullshit and look at the ad for what it is not what you want it to be
11 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
Here's how you create that ad without thing abour racism.
They started with two PSPs, one black, one white. Then they had the white PSP show it's contempt for the black PSP. But because it's difficult to show emotion with inanimate objects they subsituted the PSPs for people because humans are great at expressing emotion and easier to understand.
There's your ad created with no racist hatred. Think about it.
Oh and it does matter what country the ad is in. If the ad's not controversial in the country it's displayed in then controversy isn't going to be the driving factor in it's creation.
If you're form another country and you see it and take offense, then tought shit you aren't it's target audience.
12 - Ken Edwards
Symbolism. Say it with me.
And there is no need for the name calling gossett.
The ads might not made it outside of Holland and into the eyes of the NAACP if it were not for a bunch of bloggers. The ads did not run in the US. Have any natives of Holland spoke up about this "outrage?" They don't have a history of racism toward blacks that we do in the US. That is just one more of those great things about America that makes me feel so proud to live here.
Cool off and just admire the art that Sony's wonderful marketing department has done. I think they even topped "Your Girlfriend's White Bits Here" and "Take A Flying Leap Here," another great ad campaign that did exactly what they intended to do -- grab people's attention.
That is the job of an ad after all.
But I digress. It is called symbolism, plain and simple. white PSP = white woman; black PSP = black woman.
Sony is not trying to sell black PSPs to black people and white PSPs to white people. They are trying to advertise their new white PSP, and they are doing a really good job of it.
Another thought -- Many ads in foreign countries would not fly here in the US. This is because of many things, one of which is the difference in culture.
13 - Mike
I think their ad's are almost a natural counter-balance to all the hip-hop, pro-black culture that has engulfed all of media and advertising over the past three years. I can't remember the last time I saw a commerical without advertisers implicitly stating that "white is uncool, bland, boring--black is cool, hip exciting". I think people are getting those types of messages forced down their throat on a daily basis on tv and in print.
Mike
Chicago, IL
14 - gossett
jason, kevin you guys are not making any sense, you want me to sit back and enjoy the fact that there is an ad that depicts a white woman pushing a black woman in the face and call it art or, the fact that just because the ad is in holland and not the states that makes it allright, i don't have to be in holland to like the ad or not, i'm a consumer and i have a choice to be sony products or not and i don't like the ad i guess the creative minds of sony worked overtime on the ad, maybe when its advertised in the states they can use jason's dumb idea for an ad,i can't believe you guys can't see sony made a mistake with the ad, what does that say about you.....
15 - gossett
mike what are you talking about don't you know the no 1 rapper right now is eminem...or that the mvp for basketball is steve nash..sorry man there is no such thing about white being uncool,stop reaching for something
16 - Adam
I find the ads very intriguing but not offensive. And yes, there does seem to be somewhat of a backlash element to it. Personally, I can't stand 99% of advertising out there. It's all geared toward the 12-25 y.o. hip hop crowd.
17 - Chris
Read the book "White over Black" by Winthrop D. Jordan and then all of you will understand the deep roots of these images.
18 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
gosset I propose he following.
A white man grabs a black guy, ties him to the back of a truck and drags him a mile down the road. Is that racist?
19 - gossett
jason i propose the following.....a bunch of black guys pull a white man out of a truck and beat the crap out of him,because they are angry at the police,or a gay man..isn't that some form of racism if not a brutal act ..what is your point.and what does this have to do with the ad..
20 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
My point is that you jump and call racism with out thinking about what's happening. What if the man in my example grew up with blacks and loved them, but happened to have sever mental issues and was attacked by the other guy first.
Everyone in the states seems so quick to call racism that they don't realize that with out the intent the action is not racist.
It's also worth noting that if you stop making race a big issue, it stops becoming one.
21 - gossett
look jason...i didnt make the ad sony made it, and if you are a corporation that wants to appeal to its customers you might want to be a little more careful about how you advertise..whether you like it or not thats the way society works you screw up then your gonna hear about it.also if there was more to your story you should have told the whole story,no what if this or what if that,just make you point.do you even live in america?
22 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
No i don't live in america, but what difference does that make when you're the one criticizing an ad in Holland.
As more my story not telling you everything was the whole point. It shows how ones prejudeces can cause something innocent to be seen as something that's not.
23 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
If you'd like to hear an American saying the same thing then look here: ctrlaltdel-online.com
24 - gossett
i knew you didn't live here..but since you said there are no black and white racism over there, i guess your the perfect person to comment on racism..but anyway you have not admitted that sony made a mistake with the ad and it does not matter if it is in holland or japan, its still a major corp with responsibilities,they still could have come up with a better idea and if you can't see that then i hope people in holland don't think like you
25 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
You just don't get it do you? Sony didn't do anything wrong. They released an ad which i've yet to see dutch news complain about. If it doesn't offend the incredible liberial Dutch then they've done nothing wrong. It's not their fault you take offense to it because you aren't the target audience. You're an American and the ad is notonly not appearing on American soil, it's not intended for American Audiences.
You have to understand that in the global community different nations are offended by different things. You can't please the entire world that's why you aim for your target audience and if anyone else sees it, well tough.
For example you're not permitted under the Japanese Broadcast code you use the word blind or deaf or deaf-mute. So a commercial in the US to help the blind would be deemed offensieve there.
It's all about prespective and you're taking an American prespective to a non-american ad.