This PlayStation Portable (PSP) advertisement of the Sony gracing the streets of the Amsterdam and Dutch PSP site has drawn so much criticism and attention. This advertisement was showing a white girl (or a white PSP model) violently choking a submissive black girl (or a black PSP model) with the tagline “White is Coming.” Other images embedded after the break, on the website offer additional avenues of interpretation.

The advertisement was offensive, inevitable and debatable. Many people said that this is the most pathetic ad they have ever seen.  If you look at this ad, it is obvious as to why some people would find it debatable and offensive. Not only is Sony got it all wrong, but they are also just alienating even more customers with this total disregard for culture. It will distress those who have experienced extreme instances of racism; they would be outraged.

The epilogue of the story is that Sony has removed the advertisements and issued an apology statement to those offended by these advertisements. They said, ‘we recognize that people have a wide diversity of discernment and we wish to apologize to those who alleged the ad differently to that intended. We will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery in future.’ They also said that the Netherlands campaign was intended to highlight the color contrast between the new white PSP and the old black PSP. But, the advertisement campaign incensed a Sojourn to the Past (youth civil rights education project), NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and the California Assemblyman Leland Yee.