Sony PSP - Ineffective Ad #1

Advertiser: Sony

Type of advertisement: Billboard

Purpose of the advertisement: To promote and show the contrast between the new white PSP available and the existing black version.

Target market of the product: Current and potential gamers and customers of Sony gaming equipment.

Target audience of the advertisement: Gamers who are interested in up-to-date new gaming consoles.

Upon releasing the new white version of the PSP, Sony designed a billboard advertisement that caused a lot of tension and uproar amongst the public. Sony’s main idea behind the advertisement was to present and showcase the contrast between the two different colours the PSP model comes in.

"The marketing campaign for the launch of the White PSP in the Benelux 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” (Sinclair, 2006).

The PSP gaming console is primarily played by a younger demographic consisting of children under the age of 15.  The ad featuring a female (white PSP) wearing a suit showing her mid-drift with a ‘rock chick’ hair style, grasping a dark (black PSP) lady by the chin does not effectively portray the main message of the advertisement.  However, Sony insisted, “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" (Ham, 2011).  If these images were intended to promote the new product as Sony says, I don’t believe the ad featuring these women in conflict is suited to the demographic and audience Sony is targeting. 

The main problem with this ad lies in the way the message can so easily be interpreted as racist.  The ethical and cultural issues surrounding the figures in the ad offended many communities and individuals.  According to Sinclair (2006), "their attempt to contrast colors clearly created controversy and sparked painful feelings in the global community.”

 Many viewers, especially the younger audience was unwilling and unable to decode the imagery of the ad until they were made aware that the image was in fact about two different colours of plastic.  As a consumer I find the main message of the ad difficult to discover due to the complex imagery, therefore I don’t feel compelled to buy the product; I see no advantage presented to me when it comes in the form of two women in battle.

If I were to pick a strong point of the ad, it would have to be the overall impact of the striking contrast between the white lady and the black lady in ‘battle’, and the artsy feel associated with it.

Surely, according to those it offended, there were many other ways the ad could have been approached to advertise the new version.  If I were to make changes to the ad, I wouldn’t use two different people and cultures to reflect the contrast, instead I would use figures and images that did not represent any particular culture or race.  Perhaps using animals or shapes featured in some of the games available to play on the PSP, to signify the contrast in colours, would be a more appropriate way to advertise this product.