Sony’s latest advertising effort is garnering a lot of attention, but not all of the buzz is positive. The campaign, which promotes the new white PSP model, features photographs of two women, one black and one white, engaged in something of a catfight. The most heavily featured picture shows the white woman holding the black woman by the jaw.
The racial implications of the ads have made some people feel uncomfortable, but Sony’s advertising partner, TBWA, probably intended that. Their website declares that “TBWA = Disruption.” It also defines disruption as “the art of . . . overturning assumptions and prejudices.”
Sony has denied accusations of racism that came as a result of the ads. “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,” a company spokesperson said to Gamesindustry.biz.
“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.” Another Sony representative indicated that the ads would probably not appear in any other countries.
Of course, all of this debate (see the replies to this article) is only increasing the ads’ exposure. While that will not necessarily translate into increased sales, a major goal of any advertising campaign is to generate awareness. In that respect, Sony’s new ads have succeeded.
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Doug is a staff writer for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest eBusiness news.
