White PSP ad sparks racism claims

Apparently bowing to the public outcry, Sony has just announced that it is pulling the ad. Nonetheless, the question remains, where do we draw the line between advertising that is designed to be provocative and draw publicity one way or another, versus images that conjure up a racist history of prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes?

Obviously this debate will not be settled any time soon, but my two cents is that companies are free to use whatever images or advertising they want in order to generate some publicity and attention for their product but they should then be prepared to accept whatever consequences arise from the images they use and the outrage that it engenders.

In other words, if Sony used these particular images unaware of its potential cultural connections to White domination over Blacks, then it deserves to be called an aloof, out-of-touch, and culturally ignorant company. If it used these images knowing that some/many would consider it racist, then it deserves to be called opportunistic, arrogant, and irresponsible.

Finally, Sony needs to accept that if they were going to stick with their ad, then they need to accept the consequences of whatever boycotts and other collective action arise from their activities. Thankfully, Sony chose to pull the ad rather than let the outcry escalate. That’s probably the best move Sony has made in this whole episode.

Black groups in the USA are up in arms over the latest Sony billboard advertisements for a white PSP. A new billboard advert for Sony’s white PSP has caused consternation across the US videogaming community. The ad shows a white model dressed entirely in white threateningly grasping the face of a black model.

Next to them are the words, “PlayStation Portable. White is coming". Sites such as Kotaku, Joystiq and Digital Battle have questioned whether the ads are racist. So far the debate has split comments sections with some condemning Sony and equal numbers defending the ads as a harmless personification of the handheld console’s two available colours.

Clearly, whatever the justifications, the intention is to be provocative. According to Joystiq, the adverts have been created by TBWA an agency that speciliases in ‘disruptive’ marketing.

If there is one thing Sony is most definitely good at, it's causing controversy with their advertisements for thePlayStation Portable (PSP) console. You might remember, for example, how Sony came under fire for running a graffiti ad campaign. Some slammed Sony for"defacing public property". Sony also ran into trouble over advertisements in the UK. Now Sony has run into trouble in the Netherlands.

This time however, it is a little worse as accusations of racism are being thrown at the company over a particular advertisement for a new ceramic white-colored model of the PSP. Most of the ads are fine. They just include a white woman promoting the PSP console in various ways. However, many claim one particular ad shows the woman assaulting a black woman. 

Specifically, on the left on the billboard there is a black woman dressed all in black. On the right there is a white woman dressed all in white. The problem people have is the fact the white woman is holding the black woman by the jaw. The ad contains the words "PlayStation Portable White Is Coming". 

Sony claims that there is no ill intent with the advertisement. "The marketing campaign for the launch of the white PSP in the Netherlands focuses on the contrast between the Black PSP model and the new Ceramic White PSP model. A variety of different treatments have been created as a campaign to either highlight the whiteness of the new model or contrast the black and the white models. Central to this campaign has been the creation of some stunningly photographed imagery that has been used on large billboards throughout Holland. All of the images created for the campaign have been designed to show this contrast in colors of the PSP's, and have no other message or purpose." a Sony rep told GameSpot. 

Obviously this debate will not be settled any time soon, but my two cents is that companies are free to use whatever images or advertising they want in order to generate some publicity and attention for their product but they should then be prepared to accept whatever consequences arise from the images they use and the outrage that it engenders.

In other words, if Sony used these particular images unaware of its potential cultural connections to White domination over Blacks, then it deserves to be called an aloof, out-of-touch, and culturally ignorant company. If it used these images knowing that some/many would consider it racist, then it deserves to be called opportunistic, arrogant, and irresponsible.

Finally, Sony needs to accept that if they were going to stick with their ad, then they need to accept the consequences of whatever boycotts and other collective action arise from their activities. Thankfully, Sony chose to pull the ad rather than let the outcry escalate. That’s probably the best move Sony has made in this whole episode.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2006/07/06/white_psp_ad_sparks_racism_claims

(Michelle)

Modern Racism and Modern Discrimination

The Effects of Race, Racial Attitudes, and Context on Simulated Hiring Decisions

1. John B. McConahay

   1. Duke University

Abstract

Researchers in American race relations have demonstrated the ambivalence white Americans feel toward black Americans. The prejudiced white behaves positively or negatively toward blacks depending on the context of the behavior, while the less prejudiced white behaves more consistently across contexts. In this study, the ambivalence concept was used to demonstrate the construct validity of a relatively nonreactive scale of racial prejudice-the Modern Racism Scale. Eighty-one white college students were pretested on the scale and then evaluated job candidates with identical resumes (except for a picture of a black or white male) under contexts designed to elicit positive or negative discrimination by ambivalent (presumably prejudiced) subjects. As predicted, when the candidate was black, the Modern Racism Scale was negatively correlated with hiring evaluations in the negative context and positively correlated in the positive context. When the job candidate was white, context and the Modern Racism Scale were unrelated to hiring evaluations.

http://psp.sagepub.com/content/9/4/551