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Sony - SHAME ON YOU FOR YOUR FUCKING RACIST STUPIDITY

sony ad

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For Immediate Release: Contact: Adam J. Keigwin

July 6, 2006 (916) 319-2012 or (916) 256-5758

Sony Stoops to New Low with Racially-Charged Ad

Assemblyman Yee Criticizes Sony for Video Game Advertisement in Europe

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker pro Tem Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/Daly City), author of California’s law prohibiting the sale of extremely violent video games to minors, today condemned Sony Corporation for a racially charged advertisement appearing on billboards in Holland. The ad, promoting the release of Sony’s new white-cased portable video game system (PSP), depicts a white woman angrily grabbing a black woman in the face with the text “Playstation Portable. White is coming.”

“I am deeply disappointed in Sony’s senseless decision to publish this racially-charged advertisement,” said Yee. “I can’t begin to determine Sony’s motivation but I believe this marketing strategy is unnecessary and is clearly offensive to many in our community.”

“The days of blacks being portrayed in minstrel shows are long gone, and with good reason,” said Rick Callender, President of San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP. “The minstrel show was an awful chapter in history and this ad smacks of that age and time. It is even further unacceptable that some corporations still think it is ok to use racially charged media images. The latest Sony ad conjures up bad memories of when stereotypical and offensive images of people of color were accepted means of selling a product. Sony should immediately apologize and discontinue these archaic, advertising tactics.”

According to the video game website Gamesindustry.biz, Sony is defending its advertisement saying, “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.”

The controversial billboards have not appeared in the United States, but Sony has not said whether or not they plan to expand the campaign beyond Europe. According to British news reports Sony has stated they will not run the ad in England.

“Whether in the US or abroad, using differences in skin color to articulate the fact that your video game console now comes in white can be interpreted as insensitive at best and racist at worst,” said Yee. “Unfortunately, this is not the first such racial incident the video game industry has faced. Many games, including Postal 2 and the Grand Theft Auto series, have faced similar criticism due to their racist images and themes.”

Postal 2 has received significant criticism from civil rights and women’s groups for its over the top depictions of a woman being assaulted and African American characters being dowsed with gasoline and lit on fire, followed by a dialogue that includes, “mmm, smells like chicken,” “now there’s welfare reform for you,” and “I guess it would have been more politically correct to kill the women and the minorities first.” Grand Theft Auto: Vice City garnered criticism from many in the Haitian community after its infamous “Kill the Haitians” dialogue.

California’s violent video game law, which was scheduled to go into affect on January 1, 2006, has been delayed due to a federal lawsuit filed by the video game industry. A hearing took place in May with a decision expected shortly.

The photo of the ad is attached to this press release. It can also be found at: http://www.joystiq.com/media/2006/07/sony_whiteiscoming_ad_large.jpg.

i mean…. honestly. no one @ sony blinked an eye about that??