Frank-ProvoOnce again, the marketing gurus at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have come up with a provocative and controversial ad campaign to spur sales of the PSP. And, like last time, they've drawn fire from community groups.
A year ago, it was graffiti on city streets. This time around, the company's new campaign consists of gigantic billboards, which have already shown up in Holland, proclaiming, "white is coming" in reference to the forthcoming release of the ceramic white PSP unit in Europe. Visual imagery in one of the ads depicts a tough-looking caucasian woman gripping the face of a startled black woman.
Click here to see one of the controversial ads.
A variety of watchdog groups have already voiced their concerns that the campaign is racist and/or is an attempt to exploit racial tensions for monetary gain.
Sony's official stance is that "All of the 100 or so images created for the campaign have been designed to show this contrast in colours of the PSPs and have no other message or purpose."
Nevertheless, in response to the fervor, the company will not be using the images that have come under fire in the Holland campaign throughout the rest of Europe.