Gaming Racist PSP ad?

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

Well first off I'd like to thank Papa Smurf for posting the other portions of this so-called racist advertisement, as it clearly demonstrates that this simply is nothing more than an edgier "white is the new black" comment.

I mean seriously here people, are Sony going to go out of their way to have people thinking they're racist ? Maybe I'm wrong here but as far as I'm aware the vast majority of their customers are [b]not[/b] white supremacists. Had the roles been reversed, and the new PSP was black and holding the original white PSP in a threatening posture, I wonder would the same levels of outcry have occurred ? I'm as against racism as the next person, and believe me with my brother I get enough of that crap to last lifetimes, but that's not racist people, that's just a clever ad created to cause people to think it's racist and there by raise awareness of the brand. [/SIZE]

[Charles]

[CENTER][IMG]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a76/SilentSecurity/sony_screen001.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

[CENTER][IMG]http://img448.imageshack.us/img448/4518/thatsracist5jf.gif[/IMG][/CENTER]

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] There are bigger racial concerns than Sony's new ad, which I'm sure had no racial undertones to begin with.

When I first saw the ad, I thought the black woman was a man. Which I thought was cool. Point being that the first thing that didn't enter my mind was "that is racist".

Also the whole thing about white being the new black is definately applicable when it comes to electronics and such. It's debatable, but white is aesthetically appealing on electronic products, an example being the Apple iPod when it first came out. [/color]

[Retribution]

[size=1]The entire reason there is such outcry is because in America, people are race-sensitive. I wonder why? It might be the fact that blacks had been enslaved for several centuries, on top of another century of oppression, and this injustice was done by whites.

In the sight of the other images, I have to say it's not racist. In the series, it shows both women asserting dominance, thus negating the one in question. If it had showed the last panel instead of the first, it wouldn't've been called racist. This is because there isn't a long history of blacks oppressing whites, and so there is less care for things jabbing at whites.[/size]

[Azarath]

I just don't think that's right in any form what so ever.And Papa Smurf!I would have to completely disagree with you on how it's not racist in anyway at all because you said and I quote"How is this racist?"It is racist in so many ways that I couldn't explain all the reasons why they shouldn't show that.

It makes a lot of people mad to think that they would show something like that in the kind of world we have today.In this world just about all races have some sort of problem with another race.That add just makes it worse to me.

As divided as this world is today they put something like that up as an ad and don't think that some people are going to have a problem with that?I thought that people wanted to stop rascism![COLOR=Red]NOT MAKE IT WORSE THAN IT ALREADY IS[/COLOR] :mad: :animeangr :flaming: :angry2: :cussing: :evil3: :grumble: :nope:

[Panache]

[QUOTE=Retribution][size=1]The entire reason there is such outcry is because in America, people are race-sensitive. I wonder why? It might be the fact that blacks had been enslaved for several centuries, on top of another century of oppression, and this injustice was done by whites.

[/size][/QUOTE] Well most of the outcriers are white people not black people. So um huh? Don't tell me im wrong beacuse my school is prodominantly black and whenever they see something racist they usually just laugh at it. Then the small minority of white people are outraged. Maybe I know an amazing number of cool people who can laugh off rascism but I doubt it. Anyway this doesn't count as rascism beacause both of the ugly girlies are doing it. Also would there be a such a big outcry if it was a spanish lady being "discriminated" against? I don't think so. The spanish were being discriminated against as well as blacks. Actually they were probably discriminated more so bacuse almost all of south america was ransacked by the europeans before there people were enslaved. Also if the africans were not taken from afirica they would all still be there right? So which place would you rather be living in now africa or america? Exactly what ignorant rascist people did back then was wrong that is very true.( I say ignorant rascist people beacause not all white people owned slaves). Also if slavery never existed I doubt that this country would be where it is today. So in the long run even if slavery was a horrible act you cannot deny that there were benefits in the long run.

[Retribution]

[size=1]Since your post is riddled with rambling and inaccuracies, I'll go piece by piece. I think I already conceeded the point that this advertisement isn't racist in the light of these new panels, but here we go anyway...
[quote name='Avenged666fold']Well most of the outcriers are white people not black people. So um huh? Don't tell me im wrong beacuse my school is prodominantly black and whenever they see something racist they usually just laugh at it. Then the small minority of white people are outraged. Maybe I know an amazing number of cool people who can laugh off rascism but I doubt it.[/quote]
Then those white people are being politically correct and socially concerned, and I appreciate that. They too can understand just as well as a black person the racial tension that has plagued the States since the colonization of Northern America. How does this change anything at all? In either case, people are sensitive to this sort of thing.

[QUOTE]Anyway this doesn't count as rascism beacause both of the ugly girlies are doing it.[/QUOTE]
Yes, perhaps if you had [i]read my post[/i] you would've seen that I said that since they were both doing it, the two actions negate one another, so there's no grounds for accusing them as racist. Thanks for paying me such attention before gutting my opinion.

[QUOTE]Also would there be a such a big outcry if it was a spanish lady being "discriminated" against? I don't think so. The spanish were being discriminated against as well as blacks. Actually they were probably discriminated more so bacuse almost all of south america was ransacked by the europeans before there people were enslaved.[/QUOTE]
To be honest, I doubt there would be such outcry over a spanish lady (And I think you mean Latin American, since Spain is European, and therefore white) being in the advertisement, but for a largely different reason. They weren't enslaved, exploited, or carved up nearly as much as Africa and the people stolen from their homelands. True, there has been a great deal of resentment towards them, and while they were enslaved and killed by the Conquistadores, their treatment pales in comparison to the treatment of the Africans. Africa was carved up by Europe, it's natural resources exploited for European benefit. The people of West Africa were enslaved in huge numbers, and then had to brave an absolutely sickening and brutal Middle Passage. Unless you were asleep in history class, you know how bad it was and what happened after that.

Don't tell me that Latin America has had worse luck than Africa. That's a load of...

[QUOTE]Also if the africans were not taken from afirica they would all still be there right? So which place would you rather be living in now africa or america?[/QUOTE]
What a lovely justification for slavery! Those civilized Europeans saved those poor savages and took them to a cultured land where one day they too could have their freedom. How beautiful.

I fail to see how this supports at all your claim that the ad is not racist. It just seems like an ignorant and pointless tangent.

[QUOTE]Exactly what ignorant rascist people did back then was wrong that is very true.( I say ignorant rascist people beacause not all white people owned slaves). Also if slavery never existed I doubt that this country would be where it is today. So in the long run even if slavery was a horrible act you cannot deny that there were benefits in the long run.[/QUOTE]
... Am I the only one who thinks you're being a complete fool in trying to justify slavery?[/size]

[Desbreko]

[quote name='Azarath']I just don't think that's right in any form what so ever.And Papa Smurf!I would have to completely disagree with you on how it's not racist in anyway at all because you said and I quote"How is this racist?"It is racist in so many ways that I couldn't explain all the reasons why they shouldn't show that.[/quote][color=#4B0082]Wait, so let me get this straight. There are "so many ways" that the ad is recist, yet when asked for specific examples (as in that question you quoted), you can't give any? If there really are a lot of ways in which the ad is racist, surely naming one or two wouldn't be that hard?

People are overreacting way, way too much about this. Sure, there's some sensitivity in the US over this kind of thing. But that doesn't justify people being hyper-sensitive and crying racism just because a black person and a white person are in conflict, as in the ads. That's like automatically labeling a white person racist if they get into a fight with a black person, while ignoring any other possible motives. It's foolish reasoning that would be laughed out of the room were it over anything other than race.

Nowhere in those pictures are there any actual messages of white being superior to black. The white woman has the black women by the jaw, yes, but where's the motive? None is clearly stated and the only one that could be implied is that the white PSP is coming to fight the black PSP for marketshare. Anything else and you're jumping to your own, pre-conceived conclusions instead of taking the ads for what they are.

Oh, and I should mention that just by talking about the ads in this thread, [i]Sony has already won.[/i] This is exactly what this kind of advertising is meant to do: Spark a bit of controversy, get people to pay attention, and get people talking about it to spread the word. Seriously, how many of you knew about the white PSP before reading this thread? I didn't.[/color]

[Charles]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082'] Seriously, how many of you knew about the white PSP before reading this thread? I didn't.[/color][/quote]

I've known about it for months. It's not a big secret.

But, my knowledge of the ceramic white PSP is neither here nor there. Everything else you said is on the money. The point here is a relatively simple one; the ad is selling the same product. Sony is not downplaying the quality of the black PSP or stating that the white one is superior through this imagery. If Sony decided to sell the PSP over the DS by using people of different ethnic groups or something like that, then I could see a problem. As it stands, there's really no conflict here.

I remember reading a Space Channel 5 ad a long time ago that literally insulted the dancing ability of white people and, as cliche' as it was, I thought it was in really poor taste. Something like that is easily worse than this.

[Desbreko]

[quote name='Charles']I've known about it for months. It's not a big secret.[/quote][color=#4B0082]Well, yeah. They have a whole ad campaign going, so it's obviously not under wraps.

But my point was that I hadn't heard about it, and I'd be willing to bet there are at least a few others like me who also hadn't heard about it before. For people who don't keep up with PSP news all that much (such as myself), this thread is another way for them to find out about the new color and maybe become interested in the system. So in that sense the ads have already succeeded.

I guess I should have worded that better in my last post, so as not to imply that the majority of people were in the dark about the white PSP. (Pun intended. :p)[/color]

[Tatsubei Yagyu]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS][quote name='Charles']I've known about it for months. It's not a big secret.[/quote]
I didn't know about it either until I saw this thread...

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']Nowhere in those pictures are there any actual messages of white being superior to black. The white woman has the black women by the jaw, yes, but where's the motive? None is clearly stated and the only one that could be implied is that the white PSP is coming to fight the black PSP for marketshare. Anything else and you're jumping to your own, pre-conceived conclusions instead of taking the ads for what they are.[/color][/quote]
Even before the rest of the pictures were shown, I didn't think Sony was being racist, for all the reasons that Desbreko said, which brings me to the main point of my post-

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082]Oh, and I should mention that just by talking about the ads in this thread, [i]Sony has already won.[/i'] This is exactly what this kind of advertising is meant to do: Spark a bit of controversy, get people to pay attention, and get people talking about it to spread the word. Seriously, how many of you knew about the white PSP before reading this thread? I didn't.[/color][/quote]
Its, as Desbreko said, another way for Sony to get added attention to their PSP. Kind of like an actor doing a sex tape, and it getting released by "accident".

People are gonna hear it from other people like:
Person 1: "Hey, did you hear about Sony's racist White PSP ad?"
Person 2: "There's a White PSP!?!?"

And then its gonna be in the news and everything. Sony's been doing that a lot lately, considering there's been two threads in the Play It! section of Otakuboards dedicated to Sony this week featuring some outrageous thing Sony's done, including one made by me.

I wonder what they're gonna do on Friday...[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Charles]

[QUOTE=Tatsubei Yagyu][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS]
I didn't know about it either until I saw this thread...[FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Rest assured, the second a Kingdom Hearts game is announced for the PSP, 99% of you will be certifiable PSP experts.

Anyways, although there were probably better ways to advertise the PSP than through racial imagery, it's not as if Sony is pioneering this approach. A lot of ads would need to be banned if we became overly critical.

[center][img]http://www.danheller.com/images/Asia/Japan/Misc/Subway/real-black-ad-big.jpg[/IMG][/center]

But, whatever. A Sony rep has already said that there's no chance of the ad being used in the US, so it's not like it's ever coming here to begin with.

Edit: Oh yeah, and I love the pun Desbreko. heh

[Guest rienforcements]

now this is why i hate sony apart from the fact that they steal alot of things from nintendo but the very fact that even though the sign says that the psp white is coming the picture is racist in my eyes where the white woman looks very attractive and slim the black woman looks fat and not as attractive (im only saying dont judge me for saying that) i thing they try to say that the psp white is much better that the psp black but they didnt have to show it with a black woman and a white woman people will think they are saying that the whites are better than the blacks


theres my view

:catgirl: yiff lol

[DeadSeraphim]

[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It's funny that Americans made such an uproar about this, when it was never even displayed in the US. In the Netherlands it wasn't even an issue. Of course, Americans saw it on the internet, decided it was racist by their own morals and terms (newsflash: not every country in the world has had centuries of racial oppression) and made an uproar despite the fact they'd probably never actually see it in real life. If Sony were really racist, they would've released the ads in the US as well, but they were sensitive to racial tensions in the US and only released it in countries where it wouldn't (and shouldn't have been) an issue. Of course, the majority of morally outraged Americans ignore those little facts.

[i]Team America, **** yeah! Coming to save the ************* day![/i][/font][/color][/size]

[Retribution]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082]Oh, and I should mention that just by talking about the ads in this thread, [i]Sony has already won.[/i'][/color][/quote]
[size=1]I don't think that's necessarily true. Sure, this was a great way to get the word out about it, but it might've been a negative word getting around through some people. Someone might've heard a one-sided and biased view of it, and decided it was racist. That person probably would not buy the white PSP.

Yes, they have recognition now, but amongst some it might've been notoriety.[/size]

[Papa Smurf]

[QUOTE=Retribution]I don't think that's necessarily true. Sure, this was a great way to get the word out about it, but it might've been a negative word getting around through some people. Someone might've heard a one-sided and biased view of it, and decided it was racist. That person probably would not buy the white PSP.

Yes, they have recognition now, but amongst some it might've been notoriety.[/QUOTE]
Actually, Sony has entirely won, because if there's one thing I've learned about advertising, it's that there's no such thing as bad publicity.

For example, in this very thread, only Charles knew about the White PSP, right? Someone mentioned how racist the White PSP ads were, and then what happens? People start talking about it. Some Google searched for the full ads, like I did. The more we post about this, the more entries are added to various search engine results.

Try searching for "OtakuBoards" on Google. Guaranteed you'll have quite a few hit results.

The more people talk about the White PSP in this thread, the more Sony is winning, despite whether those people are screaming "THAT'S RACIST" or "That's one brilliant ad campaign."

Either way, it's getting the product name out, and nobody can deny that's a trademark of successful advertising.

[Guest Rurouni]

as a black person this is not right that sony did this having a white women holding a black women jaw looking like a god icon.to me this is saying that sony thinks blacks are dirt. they colud having someone holding a psp and steping on it then say '' coming soon psp white''.they are many way they could have done this but they pick this.

i think the the question is why?

[DeadSeraphim]

[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It's shockingly obvious that you didn't read this thread at all.[/font][/color][/size]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=Sienna][quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082]Seriously, how many of you knew about the white PSP before reading this thread? I didn't.[/color][/QUOTE]Well I was one of those people who didn?t know about it. But then that?s more because I have no interest in getting one so I don?t pay attention to any ads about it.[QUOTE=DeadSeraphim][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It's funny that Americans made such an uproar about this, when it was never even displayed in the US. In the Netherlands it wasn't even an issue. Of course, Americans saw it on the internet, decided it was racist by their own morals and terms (newsflash: not every country in the world has had centuries of racial oppression)[/font][/color'][/size][/quote]Until this thread I hadn?t even seen the ads, and on some level I think people are overreacting and seeing something that isn?t there. Especially with the pictures posted, it?s obvious that no racism was intended in the ads. Not all Americans instantly cry racist when something like this is used in an ad campaign. I?m sure I?m not the only one to see it and not think it was racist. [/COLOR]

[DeadSeraphim]

[quote name='indifference][COLOR=Sienna']Well I was one of those people who didn?t know about it. But then that?s more because I have no interest in getting one so I don?t pay attention to any ads about it.Until this thread I hadn?t even seen the ads, and on some level I think people are overreacting and seeing something that isn?t there. Especially with the pictures posted, it?s obvious that no racism was intended in the ads. Not all Americans instantly cry racist when something like this is used in an ad campaign. I?m sure I?m not the only one to see it and not think it was racist. [/COLOR][/quote]
[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It was just a generalization. lol[/font][/color][/size]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=Sienna][quote name='DeadSeraphim][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]It was just a generalization. lol[/font][/color'][/size][/quote]I know. :p I'm just surprised sometimes when others do react to things like this as if it's a big ordeal, which as you already pointed out, is not. ;) [/COLOR]

[Charles]

And with that, it's time to end this discussion. The ads have been pulled and they were never going to be used outside of Holland to begin with. Furthermore, I think we've discussed how we feel about the ad campaign at good length.

Besides, I'm a silly American and I just can't stand to see this ad any longer. Let it fade away!