Sony's Dutch PSP ads...are they racist?

I think the stereotyped Black and Hispanic themed characters in the American PSP ads are MUCH more racist.

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I love the folks who keep offering up the opinion that if you think these ads are racist or are offended by them, YOU are the racist. As heavenly light shines down on their more evolved brain.

Not seeing the racism in these ads doesn't make you more enlighten, it make you a sheep. Since the folks who created/run the ads insist it isn't racist, and they have tons of money, and a product you want/respect/need well, it must not be racist.

It's like the people who insist they see no difference between a black person and a white person. They insist they can't even tell the two apart. That's just stupid, sure we should all believe that black, white, latino, asian, etc. are all equal, but to say there's no difference at all is just stupid. Besides, this world would be pretty boring if all people were alike in all ways.

I honsetly I like the ads those women are sexy.

[edit on 8-7-2006 by El Che]

Racism is what you make of it. Where do you see racism in this ad? They used a white and a black person with the white being dominant and all of a sudden it's racist. Why? Because your more evolved brain tells you so from past events that this could be racist. Guess what? It's not. It's merely a white person and a black person just like you said in your post.

"It's like the people who insist they see no difference between a black person and a white person. They insist they can't even tell the two apart."

Originally posted by I See You
Racism is what you make of it. Where do you see racism in this ad? They used a white and a black person with the white being dominant and all of a sudden it's racist. Why? Because your more evolved brain tells you so from past events that this could be racist. Guess what? It's not. It's merely a white person and a black person just like you said in your post.

"It's like the people who insist they see no difference between a black person and a white person. They insist they can't even tell the two apart."

If you look back at my previous posts I never outright say the ad in and of itself is racist. I've stated time and again that regardless of what Sony or the ad company who produced the ad think, this ad WILL be perceived my many as racist.

To be honest I can see both sides of the argument. I think Sony knew what they were doing when they decided where these ads will run. Maybe most americans do have some catching up to do on racial harmony, maybe the Dutch are more advance in that respect, I'm not really qualified to make that call. I just take issue with the concept that anyone that see racism in this ad is racist. It makes no sense at all. The ad (and subsequent images) show aggression/violence between two women of different races. While the images themselves are not racist, the underlying concept being conveyed is.

So I guess if I had to be pinned down, no the images are not racist by themselves. But the ad as a whole is using racially charged imagery. If there was not aggression/violence in the images I would say there was not racism involved at all. Which brings me to another point, the women represent a white and black PSP, the same product with a different exterior. When they chose to use these women for the ads, why did they decide they needed to be at each other throats. Yes catfights are hot, but why would these two product dislike each other? Obviously because they are different colors, there's nothing else presented in the ad as reason for PSP's to be mad at each other. They could have used the same two women and had them arm wrestling or racing each other. Same message, but now it's competition, not aggression. If nothing else this is a very poorly thought out ad campaign with racial overtones for shock value.

To be perfectly honest, it never thought Sony would pull these ads, let alone so quickly. I guess they had a guilty conscience.