Sony pulls "racist" PSP White ad campaign

"Ceramic White" Playstation Portable (PSP) advertisements started controversy and worldwide reactions. Launched one week ago in Holland, this particular campaign features a white woman aggressively grabbing a smaller black woman by the jaw, "Playstation Portable White is coming". Sony initially defended itself against the accusations when a spokesperson has responded by stating the ad does not have a racist message and is part of a wider marketing 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."

That was due to change. According to Game Politics, in a recent twist of events Sony pulled that ad campaign and apologized for it. Here's Nick Sharples, Sony's Director of Corporate Communications in Europe: "We... recognize that people have a wide variety of perceptions about such imagery and we wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended. In future, we will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery, and will take due account of the increasingly global reach of such local adverts, and their potential impact in other countries."

Internet public power seems to be growing by the day if Sony officials can change their mind about a carefully planned ad campaign within just one week. This isn't the first time Sony launches controversial promotional material for PSP. In January this year Sony's graffiti ads were publicly opposed by officials in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco on grounds of promoting criminal activity.