UPDATE 1: Just a quick note to let you guys know that the images in question have apparently been taken off the Dutch PSP homepage and replaced with the following:

      

So is this an admission by Sony that the initial images were in bad taste? Not necessarily, as we learned this morning the ad consists of over 100 diiferent photos and these images might well be the next step in the the ad campaign. Still, it is pretty coincidental timing.

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Well that was quick, you'd almost think they had a statement ready... almost like they expected to have to use it. Before I get into posting Sony's reply to yesterday's controversial ad, let me state something plainly. I never once in the original news story called the ad in question, or Sony, racist. It's a silly notion that such a huge multinational corporation might be racist and I don't believe for a second that that is the case, however, I do think that Sony approved the ads knowing full well the sort of controversy it would pull and banked on just that to make the campaign a "success". I expect the ads then, are a success, if the barometer by which you measure the success of an ad rests solely on how many feathers it ruffles (sigh, and yet here we are talking about it, ruffling feathers). Anyway, let's move on to Sony's response, which reads:

"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, that has been used on large billboards throughout Holland."

The spokesperson also goes on to say:

"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."

If the idea was to merely show a contrast in colors then why not have both models standing side by side, or playing a game of chess with some black and white pieces, or heck even arm-wrestling? Why show them in direct conflict and in a position of domination and submission? Does the metaphor for "people as PSP's" even carry over to this state of conflict? Are the white and black PSP's fighting for market share and superiority now?

It's not the fact that image is racist (because really it is not) it's the fact that it's so easily interpreted as such, and that it lends itself to that reading and that Sony would disrespect its customers to such a degree as to use this tactic against them.

Perhaps most telling is a statement from a representative at Sony's UK office concerning the ads chances of leaving Holland:

"I would like to confirm that we categorically are not running this advert creative in the UK."

Now you have to ask yourself why it seems the UK office is so quick to distance itself from this bold new advertising campaign, after all what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

As always you're invited to share your thoughts and comments in the form below, please try to keep the discussion civil and clean, thanks guys!

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and its ad agency TBWA/London heaved a collective sigh of relief when the Advertising Standards Authority decided not to ban their controversial PSP advertising campaign.

If our English friends would recall, Sony used a series of suggestive and naughty straplines in their campaign - "Strong language and scenes of a sexual nature here", "Your girlfriend's white bits here", and "Saucy emails won't get you fired here". Add to that the posters bearing the line "Take a running jump here". They're harmless when plastered all over retail shops, but when they're on Manchester's Piccadilly Train Station, there's no telling what the ad can do. Worst case scenario, commuters might just have the sudden urge to throw themselves in front of oncoming trains. No need to worry though as the ads were already pulled out from the station.

Despite the suggestive ads, Sony only received 45 complaints that the ads encouraged violent and anti-social behavior among young people and that references to sex were offensive.

The Advertising Standards Authority decided not to impose a ban on Sony ads, claiming that even though some of the locations of the ads were unacceptable, they contained no explicit language or images likely to cause widespread offence or harm to children.