Comments on: stupid and offensive.

stupid and offensive.

seanyboy — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 04:51:47 -0800

The new Sony PSP adverts are stupid and offensive. Welcome to yet another chapter in sony's self inflicted annus horribilis. (More: 1, 2)

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 04:55:01 -0800

Yawn

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 04:59:57 -0800

I'm ashamed for Sony and its ad agency, not because this ad is so offensive (which it is), but because it's so transparent. Pissing people off with a stupid, offensive advertisement, thus forcing them to talk about it and name the product in the process, is the oldest trick in the book. You would think that they would know that we know that by now. But you know what? It's probably going to work. People will bitch, the ads will be pulled, the name of the PSP will become just that tiny bit more cemented in the public consciousness, everybody will forget about the actual ads that sparked the complaints in the first place, and Sony will add another notch in its belt. Bleah.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:03:06 -0800

Didn't buy a PSP. Won't buy a PS3. And if it wasn't for the single-console glory that is Katamari, I wouldn't even consider buying a PS2. My question is ... and yeah, if I took the time I'm sure I could find out on my own ... are all of Sony's ad ideas coming through the same advertising agency? This one, the graffiti-for-hire, the smack-talking animals?

By: haqspan

haqspan — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:07:42 -0800

Do we have to guess why you think they are stupid and offensive or would you like to share with the whole class? They don't read as offensive to me. Striking, ladden with sexual overtone and intriguing yes, offensive, no.

By: twine42

twine42 — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:09:49 -0800

Erm... stupid and offensive how?

By: furtive

furtive — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:14:39 -0800

I see they're biting Nintendo's (who bit Apple's) style. Bad adverts to be sure. I call pseudo controversy though.

By: lifeless

lifeless — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:17:00 -0800

Hard to believe what insignificant things people are offended by these days.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:17:02 -0800

The caption reads "White is coming," and the illustration appears to be a white woman assaulting a black woman. I'm not the most observant person in the world, and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt in most situations, but this seems pretty blatant even to me.

By: nuclear_soup

nuclear_soup — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:17:54 -0800

And if it wasn't for the single-console glory that is Katamari, I wouldn't even consider buying a PS2. Agreed. Also, seanyboy, tell us how you really feel.

By: bim

bim — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:18:06 -0800

Racist...sexist...and clueless. Way to go SONY. You've hit the trifecta.

By: terpsichoria

terpsichoria — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:18:39 -0800

Funnily enough, I just got back from the shop with my new white PSP. Oh god, I'm funding the Klan. It's a shame Sony feel a need to engage in such dumb shock tactics - after a distinctly shaky start for the thing, there's a fantastic range of games out now (although I understand America isn't getting the pure condensed joy of Loco Roco for a while yet). This attention-grabbing at all costs looks like desperation to me, and - complete failure of the UMD movie format aside - I'm not sure they've any reason to be desperate about the PSP yet. It seems as if the attention they get from this really isn't going to be worth every media outlet and anti-racism group quite rightly hitting them for (ahem) MASSIVE DAMAGE about it.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:23:10 -0800

Posts that blatantly editorialize are stupid and offensive.

By: KirkJobSluder

KirkJobSluder — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:25:54 -0800

Has this ad been used in North America, or is it just a European market thing?

By: antifuse

antifuse — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:29:03 -0800

I don't see the offensiveness, personally. I can see how somebody could theoretically be offended by it ("It's a black person, and a white person! And they're rivals! OMG!") but I don't see it

By: terpsichoria

terpsichoria — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:33:14 -0800

KirkJobSluder - yeah, as far as I know it's not even a Europe-wide thing, but specifically a Dutch one. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe are and have always been complete fuckheads, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was something they'd cooked up on their own.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:40:42 -0800

Posts that blatantly editorialize are stupid and offensive. So are you saying that the ads are not stupid and offensive? In all seriousness, I understand where the above is coming from, but for gosh sakes, choose your battles.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:43:12 -0800

Antifuse, its not just that you have a black person and white person going at it together, but for most of the images, the white person is attacking/superior position to the white person. Which, for many, strikes on a chord that runs about four hundred some years plus. They're also identifying colors with the race of people. Would it be all right if Sony came out with a Yellow PSP, then had an Asian person facing off with a white person?

By: bim

bim — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:45:33 -0800

Let's see, you've several pictures of some white woman grabbing a black woman by the face like she's a child or subject or whatever being reprimanded. Nice. How about a pseudo lynching scenario too? Of yeah, they toss in one pic of the the women rolling around on the ground with the black woman on top...just so nobody thinks they're racist...or sexist (mud wrestling anyone)? Oh no, nothing wrong with that. :rolls eyes: Sadly, if you're a white dude who doesn't see any problem, well then you're part of the problem.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:47:52 -0800

So are you saying that the ads are not stupid and offensive? All ads are stupid and offensive to me. That's not the point. The point is that posters should be presenting stuff they found on the internet and letting us make up our own minds. So far, three people in this thread have said they don't find the ads offensive, so if you're going for some sort of "It's so obvious he had to say it" thing, you're off base. And as for choosing my battles, you seem to be implying this kind of crass editorializing is so common I should pick a more significant example. I don't think it is, and I don't want it to spread.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:48:32 -0800

Interesting strategy: Viral marketing via outrage.

By: effwerd

effwerd — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:49:49 -0800

Would it have been less "racist" if they had a black woman dressed in white and a white woman dressed in black and the roles reversed?

By: clevershark

clevershark — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:54:48 -0800

Sony just can't do anything right these days.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:56:40 -0800

How do I feel. With my hands. Posts that blatantly editorialize are stupid and offensive. Get off your high horse, and carefully post that comment into every "blatently editorializing" post you see. Did that take a long time? I thought so. I guess you think I should clevery or subtly editorialize. Because Me and My intellectual liberal friends could snigger about that afterwards. Make some obscure reference to an 18th century piece of writing. So, you know, "the clever ones" will get it, but the stupid ones will just make themselves look sillier. Nah. This once, I'm calling it like I see it. Because really - it's stupid and offensive. I see no point in taking a balanced view. Yawn Fuck you too.

By: catchmurray

catchmurray — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:00:04 -0800

This isn't racist at all -- in fact projecting that notion onto it is the true racist act.

By: wheelieman

wheelieman — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:04:06 -0800

Who wants popcorn?

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:04:54 -0800

Languagehat... - The point is that posters should be ... letting us make up our own minds. - So far, three people in this thread have said they don't find the ads offensive I see that even you don't believe my obvious "Stop people from making their own minds up" policy is working, so your argument is moot. you seem to be implying this kind of crass editorializing is so common Is it the crassness or the editorializing you dislike the most. Are you a snob or a hypocrite?

By: quite unimportant

quite unimportant — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:10:55 -0800

Because Me and My intellectual liberal friends could snigger about that afterwards. These ads are as racist as you are for daring to place the letters N-I-G-G-E-R in such proximity in your comment. I'll concede that placing two models of differing races in adversarial postures strikes a chord, but racist? I don't think so. And likening the ads to displaying pictures of lynchings is pure histrionics. I guess I'm part of the problem.

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:11:21 -0800

The caption reads "White is coming," and the illustration appears to be a white woman assaulting a black woman. Says you. It looks to me like they're about to have sex. Seriously. I don't even mean that from a theoretical "Well, I guess if you squint right, and think about it in a certain way, then maaaaaybe they're about to ravage each other" viewpoint, I mean more like "When I look at those people, even though I'm not turned on by the imagery, I imagine those two people are about to have sex" kind of way. Especially since the word "coming" is in there. I do not think these ads are offensive.

By: clevershark

clevershark — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:13:42 -0800

What's the big deal about having a PSP covered with white plastic instead of black plastic? If this is Sony's idea of innovation, then the electronics giant can be said without fear of contradiction to have jumped the shark some time ago.

By: chunking express

chunking express — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:16:38 -0800

The PSP has crap battery life and no good games beyond Lumines. That's the real tragedy here.

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:18:37 -0800

For something completely different : I notice I am offended by the the fact the girls while hot aren't properly naked. That's distasteful.

By: edd

edd — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:23:38 -0800

Says bim: 'Sadly, if you're a white dude who doesn't see any problem, well then you're part of the problem.' On the contrary, they might just not ever think about race as an issue, in which case surely they're not part of the problem.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:28:00 -0800

As an image, and within the advert's context of "white vs black", I do find it almost painful to look at. I find it that offensive. Maybe that's just me. I do sometimes get the feeling that "what is offensive" has changed in the last 10 years. I can't say if things have changed for the better or worse, or if things have changed because the situation is better or worse. But they've changed.

By: dobie

dobie — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:28:45 -0800

Coming soon from Sony: The PSP Yellow, better at math operations and running gambling related video games. See, now that is racist.

By: Atreides

Atreides — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:30:01 -0800

And as for choosing my battles, you seem to be implying this kind of crass editorializing is so common I should pick a more significant example. Well, no. I imply that I see you often making crass comments about other people's editorializing. The result, rather than be informative (and disregard adding anything to the conversation), is disruptive in itself. The fact that people can post and state their objections to the post's own stated position is in itself enough of a sign that perhaps said position of the post was not entirely suiting to the topic or mainstream and offers the contradictory opinion, rather than simply making a snarky post. As a return to thread, Is the lack of as significant Civil Rights and racism between blacks and whites in Europe one reason such an ad campaign would be launched in Holland? I would expect many African Americans to see the ad and find it quite offensive.

By: Psychnic

Psychnic — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:31:16 -0800

[this ad] strikes on a chord that runs about four hundred some years plus. While this may be true in America, this is an ad by an Amsterdam-based advertising company targeted for an Amsterdam audience. The Dutch do have a history with slavery, but not so much with segregration. Consequentially, there is little public debate about exploitation of blacks. I doubt that any Dutchman thinks this ad exploits racial tensions.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:34:03 -0800

I Am Furious (White).

By: Peter H

Peter H — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:35:07 -0800

I'm much more offended by the new Cuervo Black and Coke ads.

By: Peter H

Peter H — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:38:00 -0800

I suppose it's better than Cuervo Black and Crack - but I still see, advertisers! I see!

By: lyam

lyam — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:39:52 -0800

clevershark, You'd be surprised how many are interested in different colored handhelds. PSP fans are clamoring for this.

By: ryran

ryran — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:40:46 -0800

Finally.. Psychnic restored my faith in mefites ability to actually rtfa. I was beginning to wonder about you people. There's no way in hell Sony would've put up an ad campaign like this in the US. ....However, they're still kinda dumb for apparently not realizing how many people hate them and considering how quickly something like this would spread on the bigbadinterweb.

By: lyam

lyam — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:41:15 -0800

Also, on topic.. There are more than one ad. One shows the black woman dominating the white one. OH NOES, reverse racism!

By: twistedonion

twistedonion — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:41:40 -0800

Is this ad being launched in America or Just Amsterdam? Europe != America get over it.

By: jonson

jonson — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:42:23 -0800

own up, seanyboy, how much did Sony pay you to post this here and get everyone talking about it? Wait... what? You did it for free??? Man, Barnum was right.

By: Peter H

Peter H — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:44:02 -0800

Finally.. Psychnic restored my faith in mefites ability to actually rtfa Playstation portable white is coming?

By: Stauf

Stauf — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:44:03 -0800

'Sadly, if you're a white dude who doesn't see any problem, well then you're part of the problem.' So only if you're white, then? What if your a black dude (or a black woman even!) who doesn't see any problem.

By: Peter H

Peter H — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:44:45 -0800

ah, 'a' for article, I thought you meant read the fucking ad.

By: jb

jb — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:45:01 -0800

I find the ads ambiguous. They could be read as agressive, the white woman controlling the black woman - but in context with the rest of the campaign (especially the image with the black woman agressively on top of the white woman), the images look more sexual and both women as powerful figures struggling against each other. Racist? I doubt it. Certainly not colour blind, but they don't look to degrade either party. That doesn't mean they were a very poor advertising choice - the offence they have created here shows that.

By: jb

jb — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:45:48 -0800

Sorry - "that doesn't mean they weren't a very poor advertising choice".

By: Peter H

Peter H — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:47:06 -0800

Would the ad still be racist if it was Annie Lennox and Miles Davis in the same roles?

By: signal

signal — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:47:20 -0800

You think that's offensive. Pfft. Here in Chile we have this little cookie-snack thing called Negrita (Feminine diminutive of "black", hence, 'black girl'), which for years had a tv-commercial with an obviously white chick in (really bad) blackface. That was offensive. This? Nah.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:47:46 -0800

I find it more offensive that Sony expects me to pay $300 for that POS when they intend to render it obsolete in a year or two.

By: Bovine Love

Bovine Love — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:50:38 -0800

Stupid I'll give you, although more for advertising a color change then for the actual ad. But offensive? How so? I suppose if you were continually worried about 'white power' or some such it might be. If the white chick was skin head, maybe, or was otherwise representative of some racist ideal, but I don't see anything here like that. The urge to constantly 'protect' and mother a subgroup can also be racist, as it is patronizing and assumes a lesser role for the group. OK, here you go: 2 naked men, both white just so no one calls racism or sexism, one with painted white body stripes, one with black, both wrestling. No, that is probably exploitive of gay culture or something. Ok, lets try .... never mind.

By: signal

signal — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:51:55 -0800

...they're still kinda dumb for apparently not realizing how many people hate them and considering how quickly something like this would spread on the bigbadinterweb. Right, because the last thing an advertiser wants is people talking about, linking to and otherwise distributing their ads for free. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:56:33 -0800

Advertisements are offensive enough just for existing.

By: tannhauser

tannhauser — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:58:35 -0800

On the contrary, they might just not ever think about race as an issue, in which case surely they're not part of the problem. Well, without going into the particulars of these adverts, it's pretty easy not to think about race as an issue if your race is getting the breaks. "I'm so non-racist I don't even notice that I can walk through expensive parts of Bevery Hills without being hassled by security guards whereas my was-he-black-I-didn't-notice chum over there seems to be having more trouble" is not necessarily a perfect position. On the adverts - they seem, as much as anything else, really very 80s. The black/white case = black/white person thing is pretty inept to start with - because it treats skin colour as a design feature - but the absurd frosted mullet? The sub-Helmut Newton lesbianism? Ugly, ugly, ugly.

By: matteo

matteo — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:59:23 -0800

considering their obscene pricing decisions, one would expect Sony to at least give us ads with higher production values

By: antifuse

antifuse — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:59:37 -0800

Oh, wait, these are Dutch ads? I'm even LESS offended. The Dutch just seem to be oblivious to these kinds of things. Look at the "helpers" that their Sinterklaas has. I was shocked when I was in Amsterdam for the Sinterklaas Parade and saw all the pieten dancing around, but nobody else even blinked. I Am Furious (White) I totally want this as the name for my band.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:59:45 -0800

Oh, man! When the Blue DSLite hits the US, the Smurfs are going to be pissed.

By: edd

edd — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:04:22 -0800

tannhauser: Indeed, although I think that's a very different problem from racism itself, and one probably more easily corrected.

By: motherfather

motherfather — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:06:46 -0800

This reminds me of the episode of South Park where Chef wants to change the city flag and the children debate over it. Chef sees a black man getting lynched, whereas the children are colorblind and just see another person getting lynched. I think this ad is as offensive as you make it. If anything, as a white man I am offended that my representation has such an atrocious hairstyle.

By: NationalKato

NationalKato — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:07:51 -0800

Why is Aimee Mann so angry in those ads?

By: a3matrix

a3matrix — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:08:19 -0800

Sadly, if you're a white dude who doesn't see any problem, well then you're part of the problem. Wow, that is amazing. What if you are a black guy who doesn't see a problem? Over sensitive anyone? The fact that people are getting their panties in a bunch is proof positive that the advertisement worked.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:08:46 -0800

Hey Sony, root-kit this.

By: a3matrix

a3matrix — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:08:52 -0800

If anything, as a white man I am offended that my representation has such an atrocious hairstyle. hahahahaha Good one !

By: StrasbourgSecaucus

StrasbourgSecaucus — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:10:08 -0800

whoa, samantha fox is still hot!

By: Nelson

Nelson — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:13:39 -0800

The thing that's offensive about these ads is that some ad agency would think biting on Patrick Nagel would be a good idea.

By: Doorstop

Doorstop — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:32:48 -0800

first it was the commisioned graffiti. now, this? they obviously do not want to sell these things.

By: nola

nola — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:43:37 -0800

metafilter:Viral marketing via outrage.

By: rachelpapers

rachelpapers — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:43:52 -0800

Not a single Xeni comment? slackers!

By: drleary

drleary — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:48:17 -0800

Metafilter: Stupid and Offensive. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

By: peacay

peacay — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 07:53:44 -0800

seanyboy writes "This once, I'm calling it like I see it. Because really - it's stupid and offensive. I see no point in taking a balanced view." You don't have to have a balanced view. The whole objection to your posting text is that you are foisting your unbalanced view onto the rest of us. And I don't need to go into every thread and challenge the poster to justify agreeing (and voicing the opinion) that this particular post - your post - should have been written differently. What?! You need examples of how it could easily have been better presented? See, I don't believe you do seanyboy. I think you just let your emotive reaction to this ad get the better of you when it came to drafting the post. Present the material, summarize if needs be, report that there is controversy or the somesuch. Then the rest of us can take it in and respond to the material and not to your quasi-challenge (which you of course note takes up a substantial portion of the comments in this thread). On topic - ya know, I have trouble forming an opinion because I didn't get to see these ads without them being presented and framed with outrage (here and at the 2 secondary links). I feel that I'm being led down an attitudinal path and I find that a bit confusing or perplexing. That's because I don't actually know what the white playstation is. Just the new model in white rather than black is it? I'm assuming so. In which case, if I attempt to shrug off the yammerings in which it's been framed I guess I don't really have much of a reaction. It's simply minor league punked up soft pornesque adfodder. I don't see inherent racism in the shots. It's just contrast, playing with competetive, sexually tinged and lightly menacing imagery. It's 2 chicks. Chicks dilute the dominational tropes of traditional racism for mine. The final shot is the evidence I would present in support of the notion that it's about competition and that the colour of the models is secondary to the product specs. Meh.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:13:51 -0800

Every time I'm almost convinced to buy a PSP, Sony effectively talks me out of it.

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:29:54 -0800

I think they came up with the whole black vs white thing as a way to make the console launch seem remotely interesting, immediately realized that people would see racial overtones in these ads, and then decided to go with the whole "80's camp" style so that people wouldn't take them too seriously. And honestly, I can't get offended by these posters, they're just too silly.

By: tannhauser

tannhauser — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:33:08 -0800

Metafilter: Why is Aimee Mann so angry? Sorry.

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:52:34 -0800

Eh. It's the ad agency taking a pretty obvious "durr we're gonna have a white PSP and we already have a black one." It's not racist, it's BORING.

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:58:51 -0800

because it treats skin colour as a design feature Isn't that the exact opposite of racism?

By: MvE

MvE — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:59:08 -0800

I don't see it as offensive. Poorly executed as a concept, but not racist.

By: tannhauser

tannhauser — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:02:28 -0800

I suspect that the exact opposite of racism is something along the lines of "a state in which everybody is treating people as equals within a set of social and economic structures which themselves allow people of different races to enjoy the same status and opportunities". Treating skin colour as a design feature is the exact opposite of not treating skin colour as a design feature. However, I don't think I mentioned racism in my post with regard to these advertisements. Could you show me on the doll where I did? or have I misunderstood you?

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:05:45 -0800

Were I incharge, I would have spent the handful of Sony Pocket Change in order to get the Spy vs Spy license and run with that. Start with a bunch of ads consisting of the Black Spy hiding out nervously in a safe place with the caption 'White Is Coming'. Then introduce the White Spy in a later series of ads bonking/blowing up/maiming the Black Spy. And then later on when we drop the price of the original PSP, we could have a slew of ads called 'Black's Revenge' where the White Spy gets bonked/nuked/maimed.

By: taursir

taursir — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:05:49 -0800

Reminds me of an ad campaign I saw this spring in Helsinki. Anyway, what's the big deal? So what if its a black person and a white person and all that omg? Maybe they just wanted to personify the colour options and it made sense to pick people that matched the colours? I don't necessarily see it as offensive, it's just that the white/black thing has been such a sore spot in U.S. history. The above ad for instance raised no eyebrows in Finland, 'cause no one even thought to relate it to 'white power', and so on. As for me being from the U.S. though, sure it was humorous, but the intent of the advertising slogan really isn't to stir things up. Likely that that's the case for Sony too. PS: Whoops, code got screwed up in that first one, and looked fine in the quick preview. Hopefully flagging it gets rid of it.

By: tannhauser

tannhauser — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:24:05 -0800

Robocop is bleeding: I like your thinking, but surely the spokesmodels that this campaign is cryiing out for are Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes? Stylish, retro and, best of all, not an inch of exposed skin.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:26:19 -0800

I think the ads are poorly done, but I also object to the idea that mentioning race or using contrast between skin colors makes it racist. If you're black and I'm white then it's not racist to say " You're black and I'm white" but it is racist to say "I'm better than you BECAUSE you're black and I'm white." Racism is just so stupid, I marvel that it ever was ever thought to be a valid excuse for ANYTHING.

By: Kloryne

Kloryne — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:39:32 -0800

Ooh look! Two people of different racist!! *yawn*

By: argybarg

argybarg — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:39:56 -0800

It's not racist because of some intended message (white beats black, etc.). In fact it may not even be racist in itself. But it is offensive because it's taking the jolt that we all get from seeing people of different races, labeled as such, assaulting each other and using it for no good purpose -- except to say "made you look." I'll defer to Robert Christgau, writing way-back-when about the Violent Femmes: "Though 'Black Girls' may not be racist...it takes a great deal of petulant delight in daring you to call it a name. Then again, maybe it is racist."

By: Kloryne

Kloryne — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:39:59 -0800

um *raCES*

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:42:18 -0800

Can they reshoot the ads with Jack Black and Jack White?

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:56:28 -0800

23skidoo wins.

By: taursir

taursir — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:08:36 -0800

But it is offensive because it's taking the jolt that we all get from seeing people of different races, labeled as such, assaulting each other and using it for no good purpose -- except to say "made you look." Yes, they'd better stop using any sort of eye-grabbing imagery in advertisements.

By: tannhauser

tannhauser — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:34:56 -0800

Which is, of course, exactly what was being said. Gosh, this dismissive one-liner thing is awfully fun, isn't it?

By: kalessin

kalessin — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:40:52 -0800

If you all would like a refresher on the basic tenets of anti-racism and anti-racist activism, you may wish to fire up your browsers and check out WhitePrivilege.com, specifically its page about definitions of white privilege. If you like LiveJournal, there are a number of related communities. I participate in debunkingwhite there, which was originally formed with respect to a goal of debunking white supremacy. I'm in agreement, personally, with most of the assertions in the debunkingwhite community info page, and on whiteprivilege.com. Many of them have to do with dynamics of having power and using it ethically, whether or not one originally asked for that power, as well as other more complex matters than simple skin tone, economic, ethnic or appearance-based privilege and other almost binary systems. I find it all very juicy and interesting reading and I find that participating in such communities makes me think and be very intentional about living and speaking/writing. Maybe some of you will find it equally as helpful.

By: kalessin

kalessin — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:42:56 -0800

Sorry. The Debunkingwhite link should be: http://community.livejournal.com/debunkingwhite/ and the community info page link should be: http://community.livejournal.com/debunkingwhite/profile.

By: argybarg

argybarg — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 11:01:35 -0800

Yes, they'd better stop using any sort of eye-grabbing imagery in advertisements. This is the best reading you can come up with? Please try harder, or at all, or don't bother. Just for the record, a mutilated burn victim with the words "too hot to handle" would certainly be "eye-grabbing," wouldn't it? Would you counter any objections to that ad with this same non-thought you just offered? No doubt about 1/4 of the crowd here would show up just to let us know how incredibly bored ("yawn") they were by everyone's outrage.

By: SaintCynr

SaintCynr — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 11:30:41 -0800

>>Would the ad still be racist if it was Annie Lennox and Miles Davis in the same roles? Since Miles Davis is now mouldering in his grave, I think an ad of that sort would have a lot to answer for. Sony will try it next, for sure.

By: Orb

Orb — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:19:58 -0800

I'm really trying to be offended, since so many people are obviously so upset by this set of images, but what I see are three images that are part of an ad campaign: one in which white is dominant, one in which white and black appear to be equals, and one in which black is dominant. So I'm finding myself not all that offended. After having spent part of my morning arguing with people about the usefulness of ESL classes for immgrants during which the words "brown people" and "wetbacks" was used repeatedly by my opposition, I find there is so much actual harmful racism out there, it seems disgusting expend so much energy being offended by an ad campaign that doesn't really seem terribly racist at all.

By: geoff.

geoff. — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:34:53 -0800

In Atlanta, offensive. In Amsterdam, no. Context, context, context.

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:40:24 -0800

Erm... stupid and offensive how? posted by twine42 at 8:09 AM EST on July 5 [+fave] [!] well, considering that the ceramic white model's been available for a while already online, advertising it now is kind of stupid. Personal skins for the PSP have been sold for over a year (voids warranty). And if it wasn't for the single-console glory that is Katamari, I wouldn't even consider buying a PS2. I jumped through many hoops to get Katamari run on my 1.5 firmware. Bought 3 versions before it worked. Actually, it was the mod community that made it finally possible for me to play a game I'd paid for without abandoning the homebrew available to earlier versions. And maybe the ads telling that story. Immediately after release, people started coding for the PSP, as it was a powerful device. (Black PSP) Sony never approved of it, and took the course of constantly pushing out newer firmwares to make the 3rd party apps not work. Some upgrades added functionality. (White PSP) but while Sony appeared to be in control, dev hook delivered a powerful blow for the 3rd party contributors, combined with shown in the last frame. This could represent the downgrader from current firmware's to 1.5. sorry for the nerdy interpretation. offensive or not, these ads will do nothing to salve SONY's wounds. and as far as international interpretation goes, geoff. nailed it.

By: First Post

First Post — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:41:28 -0800

Squirrel, please.

By: Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:50:33 -0800

The two look like they're about to have angry sex or something.

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:01:26 -0800

Just for the record, a mutilated burn victim with the words "too hot to handle" would certainly be "eye-grabbing," wouldn't it? Wasn't that a Benetton ad? In fact, this isn't much different than an old Benetton ad.

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:02:20 -0800

The two look like they're about to have angry sex or something. Now that would be a compelling ad.

By: jouke

jouke — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:12:24 -0800

Oh yeah. It's just like Sinterklaas. Right. Come on this is nothing. Neither in the 'lands nor in the 'states.

By: saturnine

saturnine — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:07:34 -0800

The inflamed OMG RACISM reactions are really quite annoying. Not everything about racially different people conflicting is about racism.

By: tannhauser

tannhauser — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:55:56 -0800

I see no capital letters so far spelling RACISM. There is an OMG, along with an OH NOES, a BORING, and a fair few PSPs. Perhaps you are reading a different thread, or perhaps my eyesight is not as good as it was. I'm unsure about these adverts, personally. I would be interested to know on what grounds people have decided that they are/are not racist. Did you seek the opinions of others? Have a look around race relations in the Netherlands (not quite as rosy as one might at first imagine). Ask black/white friends (delete as applicable) for their reactions? I'm assuming there's more to the process than imagining capital letters, yes?

By: bim

bim — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 16:29:39 -0800

How about a show of hands? Not that I don't enjoy mefi, but I bet mefi is mostly white dudes -- including posters to this thread. Nothing personal guys, but a lot of y'all may not have much incentive to notice racism or sexism. Oh noes... it must be a figment of somebody's imagination...I don't see anything. And I note that no one even addresses the sexist aspect of this ad campaign. Maybe SONY knows their customers quite well. ;) Thanks for the interesting post, Sean. And thanks for labeling things what they are. Some folks seem to think that a post should always be something like : Holocaust. Pro or con? Jeezus.

By: tannhauser

tannhauser — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 17:24:46 -0800

There seems to be a lot of it about, at least - here, at 1up, an aesthetic affinity betwen the bad guys of LocoRoco and the (originally Dutch, if I recall correctly) Golliwog is commented on. I'm interested by the difference between the take-out of the article - that, regardless of whether this is coincidence, it is likely to cause problems in the US and other markets and an alteration may be in order so that the author can fully enjoy the game - and the comments, which appear in many places to address an entirely different article, in which the game designers were accused of overt racism and a campaign was begun to ban the game outright. There's further comment here, which is a little calmer, but still has some interesting comments. I followed some other links off, which seemed to make a surprising amount of mention of fried chicken and watermelons in their campaign to decry what they perceived as oversensitivity to race issues in computer games. That's not Sony's fault, however.

By: Decani

Decani — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 17:41:32 -0800

Stupid, certainly. Very few ads aren't. But offensive? Only in its utter vacuity.

By: iviken

iviken — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 02:36:41 -0800

The people at Sony wanted an ad with attitude. It's edgy, it's "in your face". You've heard the expression "let's get busy"? Well, this ad gets "biz-zay"! Consistently and thoroughly.

By: spazzm

spazzm — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 04:44:46 -0800

Those bastards killed Aibo.