• silverwhisper said on Jul 10, 2007....

  the PSP white one was fantastically stupid by american standards but i'm unfamiliar with dutch standards; the blasphemous son ad campaign was IMV suicidally stupid; and i gotta say, i don't much care for the intrinsic misogyny in the indian one.
  
  btw: the http header is repeated in the blasphemous son link (the italian one).
  
  it does however make you wonder: did sony execs to go their ad agency and say "give me the most offensive possible ad" or is that just what they wound up getting? and i am shocked that sony approved them.
  
  jeez...imagine what they might've said no to!
  
  btw: good to see you blogging again, super z. :>
  
  ed

• bloc said on Jul 10, 2007....

  sony doesn't know what they are doing anymore. Just look at the PS3 flop :/ I guess at this point any attention is good attention.

• Zayda said on Jul 10, 2007....

  silver: thanks, i fixed the link to the italian ad. and yes, it does make you wonder what they said no to.
  
  it's good to be back blogging, but as it is summer and we are enjoying time outdoors when it's not so bloody hot and humid, i won't be posting or commenting much for awhile.
  
  bloc:  yeah, the ps3 has been a big flop.  i heard on the news recently that they are slashing the prices of them by around $100.00.  but as they are not, as my husband informed me, backwards compatible and won't play ps2 games, many people, including the hubby, don't see the need to buy one.
  

• SeanRenaud said on Jul 10, 2007....

  Honestly people are too sensitive, the religion one probably slipped through somebody who didn't think about it.  I mean the crown of thorns isn't exactly a Cross.  While it is undeniable what it is referencing it could easily have slipped by anybody who wasn't religious with nothing more than a huh, I dont' get it.
   
  The racist add in all fairness was part of a set http://www.flickr.com/photos/puckman/182627981/
  And both women get a chance "on top" so to speak.  I mean honestly does this mean that we can't have interacial combat, only white on white and black on black in our media?  Bite me.
   
  Also Zayda your hubby is mistaken, the PS3 is backwards compatible, it just isn't perfect with all games http://ps3.ign.com/articles/758/758306p1.html approximately 3% of all games from the PSone and PStwo games don't play. 
   
  The 360 has the exact same problem also.  If backward compatibility is your number 1 selling point (which is silly IMHO) go with the Nintendo Wii, not only does it have 100% backward compatibility, but it also has the Virtual Console where you can download Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, N64 and Turbo Graphix 16 games.
   
  Moving back to the original point I think this comercial is kinda funny, I can relate to that and I'm sure plenty of guys are gonna get a chuckle out of this too.  Probably a few ladies too.

• bloc said on Jul 10, 2007....

  @sean
  the religious ad was run in italy! I don't believe it would slip through an italian.
  
  
  I don't have a problem with the ads, but do you want to piss off a bunch of people if you are a large company? Usually the answer is no.

• SeanRenaud said on Jul 10, 2007....

  No you don't want to piss people off, not a large group. 
   
  It does strike me as weird that somehow it slipped through in Italy of all places.  I want to meet the man who had the cajones do put out a blasphemous add in Italy. 
   
  Look on the bright side.  If Mohammed were depicted enjoying a PS2 there would be riots.  :-P

• Zayda said on Jul 10, 2007....

  @Sean--Honestly, as I know several people who own PS3 and can't get any of their PS2 games to work on them, I would say that the firmware update announcement that you linked to isn't really accurate. When my husband first looked at them, they weren't going to be backwards compatible, so he didn't bother looking at them again. So an update to the firmware supposedly fixed the issues according to release notes with the firmware. Based on experiences of friends, I don't buy it.
  
  
  And I never said that backwards compatibility was the only reason people weren't buying it. I said it was one of them. But PS3 sales were a huge flop in terms of the expected numbers versus what actually sold.
  
  
  As far as the PSP white advertisement goes, yes it was part of a set. Frankly, neither of them bother me personally. But, for those that the ads do bother, I understand that they found both versions equally problematic in their allusion to racial tensions.
  
  And, I have to agree with bloc. The advertisement that people found racially offensive was produced in Italy. I find it highly unlikely that it would have easily slipped have slipped passed someone who was non-religious in a country that is steeped in Roman Catholic culture.
  
  
  As for the ads from India, I'm not extremely bothered by them, but I find the underlying misogynistic tones problematic. I don't know that those particular advertisements will go over as well in the US, however. Besides, who's to say that a girl doesn't want to turn to a PS2 because she's bored with her boyfriend. The implication that only boys are interested in PS2s and video games is an underlying flaw in logic that I find disturbing as well. But then again, I'm a gamer girl.
  
  
  I simply find it interesting that Sony continues to push the envelope and many of their ads lately have been pulled.

• bloc said on Jul 10, 2007....

  backwards compatibility is big for me. I think that is one of hte reasons the ps2 did so well. I know tons of people who loved final fantasy (whatever) and bought a ps2 because they could keep playing it and other old games they loved.

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