Dutch PSP Ad Deemed Racist; Sony Disagrees

Posted on Sunday 9th July 2006 at 10:48 by SilverFork

A new billboard in Holland advertising the white PlayStation Portable has sent a US civil rights group, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), into an uproar. The ad itself boasts a white woman with white hair and matching clothes grasping a black woman's jaw; the text reads, "PlayStation Portable White is Coming."

The San Jose branch of the NAACP issued a statement claiming Rick Callender, chapter president, had referred to what was a recent assertion of racism toward the seemingly innocent PSP game LocoRoco, stating: "The days of blacks being portrayed in minstrel shows ["blackface" music and comedy skits] are long gone, and with good reason. The minstrel show was an awful chapter in history and this ad smacks of that age and time."

Despite currently being exclusive to the Netherlands, Callender refocused his ire on the billboard. "The latest Sony ad conjures up bad memories of when stereotypical and offensive images of people of color were accepted means of selling a product. Sony should immediately apologize and discontinue these archaic advertising tactics." Leland Yee, California's Assembly Speaker, agreed with the comments made by Callender, adding: "I am deeply disappointed in Sony's senseless decision to publish this racially-charged advertisement. I can't begin to determine Sony's motivation but I believe this marketing strategy is unnecessary and is clearly offensive to many in our community."

In response to the NAACP, a Sony spokesperson has insisted that the images are not intended to be racially offensive nor are they meant to be taken as such.

"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. All of the 100 or so images created for the campaign have been designed to show this contrast in colors of the PSPs, and have no other message or purpose."

One must wonder how different the arguement would have turned out had the same ad been for the black PSP instead...

Sources: EuroGamer
GAF - Billboard Images

Posted in: Gaming Industry News, News from Europe

Written by	SilverFork
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	Member Since: 2004-06-06
	News articles posted: 53
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Comments

Zeromus_X	Comment 1: 2006-07-09 13:31
	Hah, yep, heard of that. Really kinda silly. It's to contrast the white PSP and the black PSP, humans always take things out of proportion... Although, to be frank, I couldn't even see the other person on the billboard until I really tried, causing me to be wondering what everyone was talking about.
Djibriel	Comment 2: 2006-07-09 13:33
	I think the ad's fine. I don't get Sony though; you don't want to even near this sort of thing in your advertising.
Del S	Comment 3: 2006-07-09 13:59
	Sony should have considered that American lobbyists stick their noses in everywhere and can make a mountain from the smallest of molehills, but frankly, the NAACP should be paying some bloody attention... are the Netherlands part of the USA? Is there a fuss in the Netherlands? It's not their turf. Their country is not the world policeman and they are not even a government organisation. They have no right to act outside America. Had it been anyone else but one of the most counterproductive organisations known to man, I'd find this startling. It's constant playing of the race card and bleating about the slightest thing that feeds the lunatics like the BNP, Combat 18, and their ilk.
Loose_Hair	Comment 4: 2006-07-09 14:04
	Heh, I heard about this too. It seems to me that once again people are being overly sensitive to matters like this, considering the ad itself was in the Netherlands where racial tension isn't as apparent as in the United States. In my opinion I believe that actually making big issues out of a something so minor as an advertsiment where there is no actual racism involved. If the ad had somethng like a white man whipping a black man, then yes, I could see how it becomes a problem. To me it looks simply like the the person on the right managed to get the upper hand on the person to the left. However it looks like Sony is trying their hardest to make their advertising more innovative and sparking more conversations and hype, looks like its working too.
Hamedo	Comment 5: 2006-07-09 14:28
	Anything that spurs controversy in advertising is a good thing. Personally, I like the ad.
Rangers51	Comment 6: 2006-07-09 14:41
	Racist? Probably not. Incredibly stupid? Yes. This is another reason why I'm glad I turned my back on my degree as soon as I got it - nobody seems to understand that trying to be edgy in your ads usually just makes you look like an idiot.
gozaru~	Comment 7: 2006-07-09 15:37
	how surprising is it that the naacp manages to find racism in an ad depicting a white actor showing any sort of dominance over a black actor? the white woman is completely white; she has white hair and clothes -- even white nail polish -- to go with her face. the black woman is completely black; she, incidentally, is decked out in a black outfit to match her skin and hair. i wonder what these two actors could possibly represent, here? there isn't a smidgen of racism present in this ad. clearly, the black woman, with her surprised look on her face, is somewhat overtaken by the sudden arrival of this shocking new white woman. silverforks wondered if there would have been any controversy if the ad had switched the positions of the two actors and put the black woman in the domimant position. of course there wouldn't have been a peep from the race relations watchdogs.
Djibriel	Comment 8: 2006-07-09 16:39
	Quote in the Netherlands where racial tension isn't as apparent as in the United States As a Dutchie who has visited the States and has had quite a few discussions with my US relative(s), let me assure you that that isn't true in the slightest. We have several fairly large groups of etnic minorities, and there are quite a few people who are very uncomfortable with that fact which leads to tension on both ends.
Glenn Magus Harvey	Comment 9: 2006-07-10 00:11
	Do I like the ad? No. Do I think Sony was racist in intent? Not at all. Do I think it was a stupid move? Yes. I maintain my position that videogame companies should STOP trying to seem "oh so unusual and cool" in the ads they make. For one thing, a simple background color difference would have made the point very effectively if applied skillfully. For another thing, I don't know about this ad in particular, but I'm tired of seeing ads that don't actually sell the product and are not funny at all (man laughing at an ostrich pacing across a beach in an FF4 ad comes to mind).
Silverlance	Comment 10: 2006-07-10 00:20
	Quote (gozaru~ @ 9th July 2006 10:37) silverforks wondered if there would have been any controversy if the ad had switched the positions of the two actors and put the black woman in the domimant position. of course there wouldn't have been a peep from the race relations watchdogs. QFT. Just goes to show that people like that act only in their own interest. What if it had been a PSP yellow? Would someone cause an uproar saying it's degrading to asians? PSP red, a low blow to indian tribes? What about PSP green? Man, the aliens would've been pissed over that one... Or maybe they're just colors after all. Little off-topic, but I'm of the opinion that anti-racism groups consist largely of people whose sole occupation in life is to attempt to turn as many situations as possible into a racist context for... 1) Attention 2) To justify a need for their organization 3) Legitimate purposes ...in order of importance. The ad may not be anything short of dumb, but let's be honest with each other: tacky or not, it conveys the message that there's a new color for the PSP. Cool. Maybe it's a lame ad that tries too hard, but I certainly can't see how it'd be in Sony's best interest to deliberately make it into a racist statement of white supremacy. What's next? "Nigga stole mah PSP Purple!"? I've noticed that the boards' skin is primarily white. What gives? Where's the black skin? I'm ashamed of posting here... Tsk. It's clear that the mods are racist. Yep. Quite clear indeed.
Cloud_Strife510	Comment 11: 2006-07-10 02:11
	Racist or not, it looks like a shitty campain to me, Because what does that have do really do with PSPs? nothing, The campain might as well have a glass of chocolate milk in a white room, while a kid sits there drinking regular milk. with their akward slogan at the bottom.
A11smart	Comment 12: 2006-07-10 03:28
	I agree with the camp of thinking that this was the intention of the Sony advertisers. It would have never flown here in the States, home of litigation, so they tried a market that they probably felt would receive it the best---and failed but succeeded. I had never heard of this ad, although I've read the internal memos instore about euro launch dates and limited volumes. Without the controversy and culture shock, it would never have received the power it has now, and that seems to be the common theme in ads now. For a good example of shocking yet effective advertising, think to those Volkswagen commercials which end in a shocking car accident, then show the sedan alright, as a testimony to its safety rating. Shocking, controversial at the time (at least, FoxNews tried to make it so), and ruthlessly effective: CB+K is reaping the benefits of buzz while their client's sales are increasing this quarter and last. That's what Sony wanted. Instead, even as a caucasian-cultured hispanic, I find the ads disturbing. Bear in mind that Sony needs the PSP to survive. Their last attempt to revive the market was to ensure movie releases to the PSP, crucially to provide new media in lieu of new games. And with their recent business decisions, does anyone see the ghost of pre-Sony Nintendo lingering in the Sony aura?
Hamedo	Comment 13: 2006-07-10 12:34
	The ad has been called "stupid" and "dumb" several times in here.... I'd like to know why. It accomplished its goal of drawing massive amounts of attention to it's product. In the marketing world, isn't that called a resounding success? On the other side of the coin, what makes it "stupid"? Is it when someone thinks that it's racist that it becomes a "dumb" ad? Is it a dumb ad if it fails to draw attention to it's product, even if it really was a clever piece of material? I'm just curious to hear from the camp that thinks the ad is unintelligent.
Rangers51	Comment 14: 2006-07-10 13:42
	For one, you're confusing our personal consideration that it's stupid with the real qualifications for it to be a successful ad campaign. I personally think virtually all advertising is stupid, whether it's successful or not. It's soulless and cynical and like much of the media at large, it offers itself to the lowest common denominator first. If sensationalism was the only attribute of an advertisement that made it a success, then agencies and corportations would be lobbying governments worldwide to remove any limits that advertising currently has. And every ad campaign would be like this one - bold imagery that really doesn't have much to do with the item at hand - or worse. Of course, they really don't have much choice at this point. They need sensationalistic advertising because the product they're trying to push, as far as I'm aware, has no benefits over the original aside from its color. Look at it this way, what kind of advertising would get you to trade in your blue Hyundai for a green one that is otherwise identical? The purpose of advertising is to raise the customer to a new level of awareness relative to the product. I'm sure I have all my notes from my senior-level courses somewhere at home, but this is what I'm talking about. To me, that ad campaign has no ability to raise a consumer anywhere beyond "awareness," and that is a bit thin - anyone who wasn't already aware that a white PSP was forthcoming probably isn't in the market to buy one. You could make an argument for the level of "comprehension" but I think that the concept of the campaign is nebulous enough that it's not going to work for everyone. You might say "well, the arguments you're making here can be applied to 80% of the ads I see, so why don't you complain about those?" And you're right. But this topic is about this particular campaign, which I think is not patently racist but is pretty lame nonetheless.
Glenn Magus Harvey	Comment 15: 2006-07-10 15:51
	Thank you R51. Also, Quote (Hamedo) It accomplished its goal of drawing massive amounts of attention to it's product. In the marketing world, isn't that called a resounding success? You don't want negative attention if you actually want to sell your product.
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