The ad can be seen on the Dutch official PSP site.
Black groups in the USA are up in arms over the latest Sony billboard advertisments for a white PSP. The 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 condeming Sony and equal numbers defending the ads as a harmless personfication of the handheld console's two available colours. Has this advert gone too far?...Is it more than 'disruptive' marketing. The website said:
"Disruption is the art of asking better questions, challenging conventional wisdom and overturning assumptions and prejudices that get in the way of imagining new possibilities and visionary ideas."
Is the world ready to explore themes of race and domination in the context of a videogame console advert?
Importantly perhaps, the ads are for the European release of the white PSP and are appearing on billboards in Amsterdam rather than in the US where racial tension remains a fraught issue.
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