New Sony Ads

Hasbro

These have already made their rounds on the internet, so I'm sure at least some of you have seen these somewhere, but Sony Europe has just started a new ad campaign for their new white PSP.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/04/ad-critic-sonys-racially-charged-psp-ad/
Now, its not really unexpected, but there's been some outcry over this and I was wondering what you guys thought about the ads. What perspectives you could bring to the table, if you will.

spiritfiend

I hate to be the Sony apologist again (sony sucks), but it definitely seems like this is taken out of context. This billboard is part of a campaign where it is a white PSP (represented by the albino european chick) vs. a black PSP (represented by the african woman). There appears to be ads where the black PSP is dominating the white PSP.

Also, this campaign is in Europe. While, I'm not familiar with the race relations in Europe, I think that we as Americans are more sensitive to racial tensions, since our nation contains far more diversity than Europe (at least historically)..

This ad is terrible, but I don't think it is relevent in the Sony is bad argument.

Kilarney

Why is it a "good fight" when you are guilty and you are just taking a police officer's time from protecting the public? The public has to pay for these officers... and the more that have to be hired because others are stuck in court... the more we have to pay.

Kilarney

Oops.... totally posted this to the wrong thread... sorry about that!

Rym

Well, these officers wouldn't be necessary if the majority of non-urban policing weren't simple revenue collection for the local governments...

Kilarney

At least it's a voluntary tax. :-)

Rym

I'd submit that it isn't. Numerous studies have shown that driving the speed limit in fast traffic is more dangerous than speeding. So, by avoiding the tax, you're risking your life and the lives of others. ;^)

Kilarney

Okay... so this thread has taken a major tangent...
For the sake of argument let's assume that your studies are true. That doesn't mean that people speed for the sole purpose of increasing their safety. Please! People speed because they want to get somewhere faster. So insomuch as the decision is not based on a perception of enhanced safety, it's a voluntary tax.
Also, if you go with the flow, your chances of getting pulled over are fairly negligible.
And while there may be pros and cons... speeding is, and always will be, voluntary.

HeavyCruiserLost

Actually, I speed precisely and purely with the intent of safety; whether it is going “with the flow” or to passing others in order to avoid erratic driving or pushy pack behavior. I have seen studies like the ones Rym mentioned, long after I developed my driving tactics. I feel that when you are truly paying attention to traffic conditions and *consciously* speeding you do so mostly with your own safety in mind (unless you are trying to look cool or be a dick, et cetera). Paying attention is key here, because if you aren’t, I see you, and I am using speed defensively because you stand as a danger. Driving, while in principle easy to do and maintain, is complicated none the less; I guess I just think about it a lot while engaged.

Kilarney

While you may feel that your speeding makes you safer, studies suggest otherwise:

From Wikopedia:
"Traffic engineers observe that the majority of drivers drive in a safe and reasonable manner, as demonstrated by consistently favorable driving records. Studies have shown crash rates are lowest at around the 85th percentile. Vehicles traveling over the 85th percentile speed (or faster than the flow of traffic) have a significantly higher crash risk than vehicles traveling around or modestly below this speed."

Of course the flaw in this is as follows:
"The speed limit should be set to the speed that separates the bottom 85% of vehicle speeds from the top 15%. The 85th percentile is somewhat less than two standard deviations above the mean of a normal distribution."

I'd be the first to admit that more than 15% of drivers routinely exceed the speed limit.

But... the concept makes sense. If you are routinely going faster than the general flow, you are statistically more likely to be in an accident than those merely going with the flow.

Thats the science.

Kilarney

And by the way... I agree that for me personally, speed limits suck and are too low. I know I'm a target for a ticket whenever I get behind the wheel! I just fear any highway with no limit - even the Germans autobahns have speed limits in congested areas... and those roads are built much better for speed than ours. (This is from someone who has personally driven on them. I also had the pleasure of driving in Montana when they had no set speed limt. Those were the good old days!)

Cremlian

You know just to get back on Topic.

I'm pretty sure Europe has a large Racism Problem. Judging how places like France are handling Arabs, the difference is they tend not to be as racist about Black people. The US is focused on White vs Black while the rest of the world is Locals vs any immigrant.

Kilarney

I think the ad was in poor taste - but it seems like charges of "racism" are thrown around quite liberally these days. I'd have to see more evidence before I'd join in that chorus. It's a serious accusation to make.

Hasbro

I don't think the ad is racist in and of itself, but it does use racial divisions to present an idea. Basically I think it is in bad taste, but seems like the ad execs at Sony are taking a shot at everything these days.

Andrew

Well, when you are gasping for breath to stay alive, you pretty much do anything to get in the news.

La Petit Mort

Take in mind that Sony only posted this in Europe where white aren't racist to blacks.

Hasbro

A lot of people are saying that, but the point of my objection is not the fact that one is white and the other black, but how Sony is trying to forcibly inject pathos into the ad using the clearly defined tensions of race. Think, if they had simply had two people, let's say women, one wearing a white suit, the other wearing a black one, the ad would be noticeably less stirring, even edging almost on silly. Yet almost instantaneously by applying race to the equation, the ad takes on a sudden tone of seriousness and conflict, even amoung people that aren't especially presdisposed to think of images in that manner.
I think it's a cheap manipulation of a painfull historical undertone of many countries (though admittedly not any of the ones the ad is appearing in) for something as simple as a color change. Also in the sort of international clime that any type of media is really afforded by the internet these days, I think Sony could have stood to realize that this wouldn't stay bottled up in countries where the issue isn't quite as sensitive of one.

Nazhuret

Clicking links from that to see other ads they've done I really get this sense of a first year art student trying waaay too hard to be edgy.
The stuff they come up with is so over the top and obvious it's just painful. "Look at me! Look how totally nonconformist I am! LOOK! You're not looking...."

Ugh. I hate all of their stuff I saw.