The past two years have seen the continual estrangement of Sony’s once fiercely loyal base of consumers. Specifically – all of Sony’s current issues notwithstanding(I’m certainly not ambitious enough for a commentary THAT broad at this point) – Sony’s PR situation has been prickly at best.
Just a quick recap:
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Sony’s “White is Coming” PSP ad was at best a ….risky move for sure, and more daring than many people were willing to recognize. Despite its edginess, many felt (rightly) that the imagery was a bit too vivid for public consumption. Many think they wanted to stir up some controversy and thus, hype, for their struggling system, but unfortunately it’s hard to hype a change in the color of the damn thing. So all we are left with is, of course, the controversy. Ryan Block said it best at Engadget:
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Ah, the sacriligious crown of thorns Sony PS anniversary ad. This one was pretty tame in comparison to the white uprising. Sorry, churchgoers. I know you all feel very strongly about your Dark Age-era torture imagery! |
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The “All I want for Xmas is a PSP” blog… the outrage created by this flop of a viral marketing attempt was palpable – gamers everywhere responded in self-righteous anger, and the fallout was swift and severe. For many, this campaign reinforced the charge that Sony had little to no respect for their target audience’s intelligence. Not much remains to be said. It was a fiasco – a hilariously embarrassing fiasco – “bound to be a cla$$ic!” after all. |
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So in short, not very smooth sailing.
I suppose they just had to see what else they could stir up with these: (after the jump)