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Sony gets racist. White is coming.
- Thread starter jj984jj
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SolidSnakex
Member
Angelus said:
Indeed, which is why there's no need to be twisting game ads into being racist. People pulled this recently with LocoRoco recently which was even more laughable than this is.
Francias Castiglione
Banned
Sony turned down the initial concept for some reason...
East Clintwood
Banned
I think the white model is superior and replacing the black one.
firefoxsux
Banned
loco roco is racist
SolidSnakex
Member
firefoxsux said:
And exactly how is it?
Mr. Pointy
Member
I think this ad could have worked better if the black woman/PSP were putting up a struggle or was appearing to be just as intimidating. Or if they were making out, because the two models complement each other.
Either way, I don't work in advertising.
Either way, I don't work in advertising.
Amir0x said:there's controversy and then there's controversy. I don't think there's any way controversy over accusations with racism would result in MORE people buying it, as i can't imagine the neo-nazi/skinhead crowd is a particularly big market these days
That's the genius behind the whole thing. Sony's target market could increase exponentially after showing this ad.
After that billboard is up for a week or two, news programs will start reporting on it, then radio will follow, then talk shows, and it might even be spoofed in some upcoming music video (see "Everything is Automatic" by the Matthew Good Band). All of a sudden, people that didn't even consider purchasing the PSP might just rethink it, and go out and buy one.
The best case outcome is that you've turned your target market from some people that walk by a few billboards to everyone that watches the 6 o'clock news, Oprah, or even MTV.
Thatsalottapeople
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
For all the upset Americans here, I will march the where this ad is placed, yell in my best dutch "This is offensive and racist and upsets me as a caucasian man" then I will appear exasperated and confused at all the blacks whites browns and god knows whatever other colours around me don't give a shit and fail to understand me.
Then on the way home I'll beat the ever loving shit out of the American dude that is standing in front of the train station demanding that all the sinners repeat or be damned for actually being offensive.
Then on the way home I'll beat the ever loving shit out of the American dude that is standing in front of the train station demanding that all the sinners repeat or be damned for actually being offensive.
East Clintwood
Banned
Hey, remember when Nintendo wanted to call the sequel to 1080° "White Storm"? Now that would've been funny!
leesmapman
Member
catfish said:Zwarte Piet approves
XD
On topic: this probably has to do something with the racist content of Locoroco, no doubt.
firefoxsux
Banned
SolidSnakex said:
you should know...but don take it hard.
i am posting with relative consideration of the tone in this thread.
I think you're under-estimating how offensive this advert will be to a lot of black people. Let's not forget a lot were offended by that squirrel advert and that's nothing compared to this. Slavery is still on the back of the mind of many.
Bad move Sony. Hopefully it's only an Amsterdam advert, because it wont go down well in the UK.
Bad move Sony. Hopefully it's only an Amsterdam advert, because it wont go down well in the UK.
SolidSnakex
Member
firefoxsux said:
Are you talking about the Moyja's in the game? If so, have a look at the real inspiration for them, the games lead artist
Frankfurter
Member
Stitchy said:
Why should a person that has never considered purchasing a PSP all of a sudden buy one because of an advertisement that is somehwere in between bad taste and racism?
When I clicked on this thread, I expected some kind of photoshop or sth. like that. Than I saw the picture in the first post and was a bit surprised by the reactions. I didn't take the advertisement that seriously. But on the other hand, I thought about another version of that ad and how I would think about that. Instead of the black person there would be a jew (this doesn't make sense at all, but if it would). If it would look that way, I'm pretty confident that we would have a shitstorm over here and afterall (I guess) the advertisement would probably be forbidden.
So yeah, I would say it's atleast problematic.
Frankfurter said:
Exposure.
More exposure (billboards plus 6 o'clock news plus radio, plus magazines etc.) to a product usually leads to more sales, almost no matter what the context is.
That's why Kiefer Sutherland tells us to buy a Ford a minimum 6 times between 8 and 10 PM on weeknights. The more times the advertisement is played, the more exposure the product gets. This might lead to increased sales.
If this wasn't an effective method, the advertising companies wouldn't do it.
The Take Out Bandit
Member
Mr. Pointy
Member
Just wondering, who took the pic of the billboard?
HocusPocus
Member
Nobody cares about white people either in Japan .
It's all about the green.
.It's all about the green.
SolidSnakex said:
That's only part of the story, though. I think Jeremy Parish' take on the situation was the most fair and balanced (Fox News reference unintentional), his point being that while the artists' intentions were certainly not malicious, it's a simple fact that the Japanese are less sensitive to these issues (the possible connotations of this type of imagery) than Westerners (and especially Americans) are. There are no doubt examples of the opposite as well (Parish mentions four-fingered characters as being possibly offensive in Japan). Catching these kinds of things is part of the localization team's job.
On topic: I'm not sure what Sony's (ad agency's) intentions are, but I doubt they want to paint off the black PSP as an inferior product. Certainly wouldn't put knowingly generating controversy past them, though.
EDIT:
Amir0x said:there's controversy and then there's controversy. I don't think there's any way controversy over accusations with racism would result in MORE people buying it, as i can't imagine the neo-nazi/skinhead crowd is a particularly big market these days
Knowlingly stirring up controversy isn't the same as deliberately pandering to a racist demographic, though. If the shit does hit the proverbial fan, Sony will no doubt issue a statement denying any racist intentions. The intention, if it exists, is more of a 'no such thing as bad publicity'-type deal.
Note that I personally don't find the image to be blatantly racist or offensive at all, but I can easily see how it might be interpreted as such and how that might stir up controversy. And I kinda doubt Sony('s ad agency) was completely oblivious to such sensitivities.
SolidSnakex
Member
Farmboy said:
I'm not saying that's not the case, just that Moyja was in no way done with any racist intentions which is where the whole thing basically spawn from. The 1up poster with the watermelon in front of Moyja's face for example. It was inspired by the lead artist, plain and simple. But yah there's some cases about people being less sensitive, but there's others where people are just way too over sensitive about it. And this would be one of them. This was discussed somewhat in that thread about racist character in games. You've got some truly racist situations sometimes, and then you've got people just looking to find something even if it doesn't actually fit.
SolidSnakex
Member
Gantz said:
No it isn't. It's based on the lead art for LocoRoco. It's rather common for lead artist to do that with characters. Reiko for example is based off RR's artist who happens to be a dude.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
reminds me of the episode of extras where the gets caught girl trying to hide her golliwog from the black guy shes dating.Gantz said:
Gantz said:
I'm aware of that stereotype. But using the stereotype in the game doesn't necessarily makes it a racist game. Using ANY stereotype ANYWHERE would be a form a discrimination by this logic -- and it's not. Stereotypes can be used with humor per example (kinda like laughing at ourselves if you want). I doubt the game is serious and it's creators are racist. Also, if i follow your way of thinking, since i'm white i should scream racist at any characters that are evil in games while looking "white skinned" wich obviously makes no sense.
I think you LOOK FOR racist stuff there. Same thing for the Sony ad.
The Take Out Bandit
Member
SpoonyBard
Banned
I see Sony is trying to rip off Benetton now.
There is a slight difference though...
There is a slight difference though...
The Take Out Bandit
Member
SpoonyBard said:
You can't make glue out of black people?
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