Sony gets racist? White is coming.

[louder]

While I'm almost sure the ad didn't have any ill intentions, this ad has caused some eyebrow raises throughout the internet and Holland, where the ad can be found.

As one can see above, the ad depicts a "white PSP" avatar/model violently holding the mouth of a "black PSP" avatar/model -- in commemoration of the launch of the ceramic white PSP, of course.

Oh, and the girl in white has a nice body.

k. i'm getting fed up with all this racism rubbish. just cuz they're making a white version?
soz apple ur rasist you made white ipod...
they've got a black one too. it's just another colour so people can have choice of which colour they'd like.

[WHANGFACE]

If you think its racist you're pretty thick.

[FlyingJesus]

People these days see anything with the words "black" or "white" and assume it's racist.

[ReInfected]

Ye just shut up already. it aint racist. jeez.

[iluvben]

I don't think it's racist , it is quite clever really :] if it was vice-versa this thread wouldn't even be here so w/e.

[Billay]

i hope that black guy knocks that cracka out.

[J1MI]

No a genius wouldn't be stupid enough to miss read it as such... The whole PC thing is out of hand and pretty much has caused a mentalty where anything that can even be remotely conseaved as having such relation to the matter is instantly targeted.

The postures are not violent in any way?
The advert is all about contrast, it makes use of both gender, clothing, positioing, screen space, pose and colour...
yet only one is picked out and then made out as if its trying to be raciest?

The billboard pictured here is one of supposedly somewhere near 100 evocative images created for the campaign with the same theme, which found viewers of the ads -- and game lovers alike -- crying foul at Sony's latest foible come PR fiasco . When it comes down to it I honestly don't think Sony is stupid enough to mean any ill will -- or smart enough to capitalize on a PR firestorm -- with such an ad campaign. But instead of confronting the issue and addressing peoples' concerns, they meagerly defended themselves to GamesIndustry.biz with the following: "The marketing campaign for the launch of the White PSP in the Benelux focuses on the contrast between the Black PSP model and the new Ceramic white PSP model," and "A variety of different treatments have been created as a campaign to either highlight the whiteness of the new model or contrast the black and the white models. Central to this campaign has been the creation of some stunningly photographed imagery..."

Oh, make no mistake Sony, the animosity and drama of the imagery, the visceral emotional implication of powerful racial overtones, this is a huge blunder. And once again I find myself urging -- nay, demanding -- Tokyo yo re-evaluate what the hell it is they're doing these days. Because mistake or not, this biz doesn't fly, Sony, and you're not helping the perception that you're an incredibly callous megacorp with little real direction.

While we can all agree that Sony meant no ill will, I really find it hard to believe Sony's explanation about how it merely contrasts the white and black PSP. They are essentially the same product in different colors; why the animosity between the two metaphors in the ads? It makes no sense. The last thing anyone should want is for their own product lines to clash. I guess Sony evades the rule by making one product line clash with itself? I think someone should be fired.

After Sony cleans up its ad squad, I think they should also issue an apology for their horrific lapse in judgment. Other than that, I see no reason to get riled up over these pictures unless someone can provide evidence that Sony is a white supremacist group disguised as an electronics company. It's just bad taste plain and simple.

[Ellis.]

It’s strange. I think it’s an advert that will often be interpreted as being very racist, but only because there is such a fear of racism. These days most people I know, including myself, really struggle to know what to say when describing somebody who is black. I never know if it’s okay to say "Oh yeah, do you remember that black guy from the movie last night?" Should I be saying something descriptive that doesn’t make use of such an easy to identify difference? We’re so desperate not to be racist that we suddenly turn non-racist things into something that we interpret as being racist.

Anyway, back to the advert, if it was say an advert for ginger biscuits, with two women, one with blond hair, one with ginger and the one with ginger was doing what is in the advert with the slogan "ginger’s coming" (terrible example I know, but it was the best I could come up with) then nobody would complain about a division in hair colour. With race though, despite the fact that the advert isn’t racist and doesn’t intend to be, we’re so afraid of doing something that might be racist, many will no doubt take it the wrong way.

Is that anywhere near the truth, or have I interpreted it all wrong?

In my honest opinion, you took the words right out of my mouth. People today are afraid of calling black people "black" because we're afraid of being called racist.

In my opinion, I consider racism to be anything that offends those who are in certain races and comments/acts which are meant to bring ill manner. If someone said "Oh, remember that Asian guy yesterday? His name was Ellis I think.." I personally wouldn't be bothered. As long as they don't make a racial slurr about my race I personally couldn't care less whether or not they referred to me as "That Asian guy."

Getting back to the photo, it's normal for us to see things like this as racist. Anything we see which involves someone apparently doing something bad to someone else of the opposite race is something we all see as racist. I hate to say this but people always notice these things if a black/asian person is involved. If instead of the black person on the ad, a white woman in a black shirt were in his place, I doubt that anyone would be complaining but the fact that the black person is there makes people think otherwise.

Yes, slavery did happen but I don't see a need for us today to still assume that white people are dominant; because they're definitely not (nor vice versa). Basically, I see that the model choice in this ad was basically to create a contrast between the Original Black PSP to the New White PSP, taking advantage of models' skin colours. As long as this commercial contianed no black/white jokes, I don't see it as anything else but a simple advertisement.

If say a Hair Product company were advertising blonde dye and compared a blonde woman to a brunette woman in the same position as the models in the advertisement discussed above, I doubt that anyone would care. Yes, I'm aware that hair colour isn't as serious as skin colour, but there's not any other way I can compare the situation.

In conclusion, as long as there aren't any offensive racial slurrs containing vulgarity of opposite races, I see this picture as nothing more than a mere advertisement.

[Sony.Com]

So what guys? Its an ad... just an ad..

Its not ment to cause harm..

Its not racist. Almost all of sonys playstation products are black so they are making a big deal about it..

[RedStratocas]

So what guys? Its an ad... just an ad..

Its not ment to cause harm..

Its not racist. Almost all of sonys playstation products are black so they are making a big deal about it..

You miss the point. It isnt the play station being black that people think may be racist, its the ad itself.

But yeah, its not racist.

Damn, that girl is WHITE.