Howdy handheld hooligans, it's-a-me, Jarobi! Yeah, I know... I'm posting PSP news even though my alignment is with the DS. However, this little bit of news was intriguing enough for me to temporarily forget my handheld allegiences. A very
controversal ad was released in the Netherlands for the new white PSP. This ad depicts a White female apparently dominating over a Black male. When I first looked at the ad, I didn't really see anything completely out of place, because I'm the kind of person who doesn't focus on race as opposed to one's own merits. Then I read several comments responding to the ad, and found that almost everyone was pissed right off! Sure the ad was a bit sleazy, but I had thought after reading the comments that PC (political correctness) just got a little out of hand. Upon closer examination of the advertisment, I realized that the woman looked as though she had a severe case of PMS, while the man looked as though he would wet himself with so much as a blink from his adversary. Clearly, the apparent theme of this ad, intentional or not, is domination. I think that Sony is sending the wrong message to its consumers by creating an ad that pretty much says that the white PSP is better than the black PSP, when in fact, this is not so. I also find the theme of domination unnecessary to market the differently hued handheld. Finally, I don't have a problem with people of different ethnicities in the same ad, but when the domination theme is included, it can conjure up images of a not so tolerant past. This is especially true for those who have experienced discrimination (racial or otherwise) before. I would bet a year's worth in goat's milk that many would agree that this ad says, "White is better than Black". Sure, PC can get a little out of hand from time to time. There are also people who look for racism where it doesn't exist and live their lives in contempt of everyone different from themselves. However, when someone says and/or does something offensive, regardless of intent, the act is still offensive. Instead of
defending the ad, I think Sony should have kindly apologized after realizing their error. Whether this ad was intended to send a racist message or not will never be known unless we have mental powers akin to Professor X. Nor do I really care. What we do know is that this is a case of the wrong message sent as a result of sloppy marketing. For that, I will have to say boourns to you Sony, boourns.
P.S. Here's an idea: imagine an ad where you have the same Black and White couple, but instead of the fighting pose, have them in a loving embrace. Instead of conjured images of cotton fields, we will have images of Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney singing a duet, if you know what I mean!
