Whites vs. blacks on PSP

[Pumpkin Head]

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi/NGoto/149709136?-10919 I thought this was really crazy, they could at least made the black girl pretty, "Beyonce"Jada"even all the sexy young blk females on the street. Wow.

[RavenFox]

Unfortunately with the strife of this world Sony has to realize thats just bad marketing. This not going to go well at all. Pretty damn bold if you ask me but so is art.

[Fats]

Wtf? No seriously, I thought that this would have been a fake... Wtf?

[Fazares]

after the old christ passion sort of ad,this is another bummer for sony marketing strategy....

[Sephiroth_VII]

First the "Take a running jump here" campaign, not to mention the grafitti, and now this! Sony... Get a new marketing director, please!!

[Luis]

Now they just need to make an advert featuring a guy wearing a white cone and mask watching UMD's version of 'American History X' on a white PSP, and the slogan: "Out with the black, in with the white."

Seriously, Sony's marketing campaigns are a bit too aggressive. And I should change my avatar and stop making posts like this one before the racist spree hits me as well!

[Media]

[Newboi]

I'm puzzled at the topic at hand. Wouldn't Sony want people to buy both versions of the psp?

The whole "White vs. Black" thing just hurts them on both the moral and economic fronts.

Showing harmony would have made much more since.

[Fats]

Well, I don't think that it really does, it's just the fact that they're introducing the new White colour.

[chrismt]

Can you post another link?

[Fats]

Here's a link to the actual website Chrismt,

http://www.yourpsp.com/psp/psp.html#...setlocale=true

CVG have got an article up now ::

Sony has defended its own corner in the wake of cries of 'racism' levelled at a controversial billboard poster advertising its ceramic white PSP in the Netherlands.

Carrying the slogan "PlayStation Portable White is coming", the advert in question depicts a white woman looming over a black woman and gripping her around the jaw.

In response to the upheaval the advert's caused, Sony has stated no, it doesn't have a racist message and explained that the ad's part of a broader marketing campaign featuring 100 or so images designed to highlight the contrast between the PSP colours. The images "have no other message or purpose," an SCE spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz.

"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", the spokesperson continued. "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, that has been used on large billboards throughout Holland."

It's the second time within the last week that PSP has been caught up in racism issues. Recently, a blogger suggested that handheld game LocoRoco contains unintentional racist elements, describing it as "a product of unchecked institutionalized racism that need's [sic] calling out".

Further images created for Sony's PSP campaign can be viewed at yourpsp.com. Sony's UK arm has reportedly confirmed that the campaign will not be run on these shores. And that, really, says it all.

[yoshaw]

It goes both ways.



This below should be of interest to read.

Kotaku's outspoken, lippy new kid, Florian Eckhardt bounds into the discussion questioning how we're defining "racism," now:

What is racism? Racism is a calculated and rationalized loathing of a person based solely upon the color of their skin. It isn't anthropomorphizing the struggle between two aesthetic choices in a video game console.

Eurogamer gathered some response from Sony regarding the ad, and in addition to confirming that there were no plans to bring the campaign to the U.K. Sony's defended the Dutch campaign:

"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, that has been used on large billboards throughout Holland."

Despite the ease of branding the ads as racist (our culture borders on hypersensitive), Florian Eckhardt's above comments make the most sense. While some may see the ads as offensive, is it because they are offensive, or because people are trying to read between lines that otherwise aren't there? How are we defining racism now, anyway? There doesn't appear to be any malicious intent on Sony's part, this time.

[Fats]

It's not really the point is it Yoshaw? The fact that they're defining the Black and White PSP as a Black and White person, fighting, makes it fairly suspicious. It's clear that this advert was created in order to cause a bit of hysteria and it's working fairly well.

[yoshaw]

So what is the point? This ad is only being featured in Holland. The only way you're seeing it is through the internet and speculating that it's probably a lil bit racist. Yet, the Holland government or its people don't think it is.

I believe the 1up guys said it perfectly.

While some may see the ads as offensive, is it because they are offensive, or because people are trying to read between lines that otherwise aren't there?


I don't think there is any need for hypersensitivity on our part about this issue and we should drop it. And I think there is nothing to accomplish down this road either as Sony has clearly defined their stance on the issue. So we should take that for what it is rather than keep shaking it expecting something else might pop out. No?

[Jubal]

I wrote about this on PSPupdates and got universally lambasted for being racist myself, despite the fact that I went to lengths to point out that the ad and images themselves are not racist, merely that it's pretty easy to read that interpretation into them. You don't have to be racist to read that, just live in modern society. My biggest beef is that Sony insulted it's patrons and customers by throwing out such a blatantly attention grabbing piece.

[Fats]

I personally fail to see why that some people can't establish why some would consider this racist. It's glaringly obvious. With the title of the advertisement (The Billboard that I first seen) and the picture depicting a White woman with her hand around a Black womans jaw, it's obvious that Sony set out for some controversy.

[Jubal]

^ That's what gets me, it's such a cheap campaign.

[Snarkey]

Yeah, I'm with Fats on this one, the ad, whether or not YOU think it's racist yoshaw, is clearly offensive. SOME people are going to get upset (and I'm sure are upset) by the advert, so why even consider posting it on a billboard? Sony's ad campaigns are really piss poor. Shape up, Sony.

[BahnNZ]

Wow that ad looks pretty... Stupid.

[Fats]

It certainly has a feeling of the old days of United Colors of Benetton about it. At least this has some relevance to the product they're selling though.