Controversial PSP Ads

Debate over a recent Sony billboard in the Netherlands advertising the release of the Ceramic White PlayStation Portable in the region was fittingly white-hot last week. Sony has pulled the advertising campaign and apologized to anyone offended by it. An ads featuring a Caucasian woman holding a black woman by the jaw in a threatening manner was decried as racially insensitive. A Sony representative offered the following statement:

Whilst the images used in the campaign were intended solely to highlight the contrast between the different colors available for the PSP, we recognize that the subject matter of one specific image may have caused concern in some countries not directly affected by the advertising. As a result, we have now withdrawn the campaign.

We further 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.

According to the Sony representative, the company had only received a single complaint about the ads from within the Netherlands.