Sony owns up to deceptive marketing blog
by Blake Snow 
{ Dec 13th 2006 at 4:03PM }
Sony owned up to its deceptive marketing and pitiful attempts in feigning a consumer fansite promoting the PSP today. But only after removing several posts that contained hundreds of critical "we're on to you" comments. The statement from the site reads:"Busted. Nailed. Snagged. As many of you have figured out (maybe our speech was a little too funky fresh???), Peter isn't a real hip-hop maven and this site was actually developed by Sony. Guess we were trying to be just a little too clever. From this point forward, we will just stick to making cool products, and use this site to give you nothing but the facts on the PSP. Sony Computer Entertainment America"
Funky fresh? Confusing cleverness with deceit? You're still not getting it. Regardless, kudos for admitting to the mistake, but an apology to your customers while leaving up critical comments would have been better. Also, just know your products got a little less "cool" in the process. Think of it as consumer restitution.
[Thanks to all who sent this in]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John @ Dec 13th 2006 4:10PM
sony are dicks! their PIECEOFCRAPstation is shit and they can go and fuck themselves!
wii60 ftw!
:)
NeverEnder @ Dec 13th 2006 4:11PM
im kinda upset that we gamas is depicted like we stupid. lames ova at sony dont know whats up
CJC @ Dec 13th 2006 4:13PM
Honesty can equal good PR, sony!
Sure, you had to go through one of the worst ad campaigns in recent history, and have angry fanboys of all types and loyalties tear you a new one, but... uh...
...something...
You know what? Just don't try this again.
Stoo @ Dec 13th 2006 4:16PM
"Guess we were trying to be just a little too clever."
What? They were weren't being even remotely clever about it - the fact that it was retarded and patronising was the whole problem. Christ.
diskoboy @ Dec 13th 2006 4:18PM
Didn't they pull this stunt before with trying to promote some movie a few years ago? They were making up phoney reviews, or something like that?
I'm wanting to say the movie was "A Knights Tale" or something like that..
Fuck sony with a frozen flagpole.
Jason @ Dec 13th 2006 4:17PM
Owned bitches! FU Sony
I'm glad I bought a 360 instead of your POS3!
You guys are tanking horribly so far, and I like it.
> @ Dec 13th 2006 4:17PM
This 'confession' was planned from the beginning.
1. Set up a 'fan' site, and make people suspect that Sony is behind it... this generates more traffic than an actual fan site.
2. Get anti-sony blogs to blog about it and post the videos.. more traffic.
3. Now.. come out 'clean' and generate more traffic.
Sony-haters will never be converts (and not the target audience) so they're largely irrelevant. But, the blog gets distributed and people talk about it. They can also doctor the comments (ie sony employees commenting and deleting negative ones) to make it look like people actually like the site. And, the only people who will care about the details are sony-haters.
The biggest scam this year is the GameCube being sold as the Wii.
moo-cow @ Dec 13th 2006 4:26PM
#7
it was for "Hollow Man" also, they made up fake critics to praise the movie.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4741259.stm
theres also the whole Rootkit DRM fiasco
http://news.com.com/FAQ+Sonys+rootkit+CDs/2100-1029_3-5946760.html
theres the Sony Payola
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163537,00.html
plus all the lies regarding ps1,2,3
Cry Havoc @ Dec 13th 2006 4:27PM
>:
No one likes an ignorant troll. Run along now.
Hoffy @ Dec 13th 2006 4:25PM
You guys should have titled this article, "Sony pwns up to deceptive marketing blog!!1!one"
Or maybe that would have been too funky fresh....
Inspired @ Dec 13th 2006 4:28PM
That was a really bad spin, >. Go into any store and buy a gamecube, then tell me how its like not to have motion controls, no online support, no backwards compatibility, no wifi, no sd cards, no wii games, no 480p support, and hardly any 3rd party support ... all things the Wii have.
But tell you what? Go play some PS2 games on your PS3, let me know how them extra jaggies work out for ya. Oh, and if you don't have a PS3, you can buy mine on ebay :)
Agent MOO @ Dec 13th 2006 5:44PM
Official word from sony:
"LOL SRRY!!! OK THX BYE!!"
Aran @ Dec 13th 2006 4:28PM
LMAO @ Sony. What a pitiful, arrogant piece of crap company you have become. Great laptop batteries, great rootkit problems, great geography (yes, Europe is part of world!), great PS3 delays, great advertising campaigns, great lies all over the place...
Just die Sony, just f**king die.
Wii60 FTW! \o/
RobCon @ Dec 13th 2006 4:25PM
Calm down people. Some of you act like Sony buttraped your cat.
Sam @ Dec 13th 2006 5:16PM
An apology? Good lord, guys. . . why would Sony need to apologize? So they tried a marketing gimmick that backfired. So what? Does it really hurt your feelings so bad that you need an apology? It's like our country is either overly sensitive and/or overly litigious these days.
And I see the "funky fresh" comment as self-deprecating humor, nothing more. Get off your high horse, Engadget.
Earl @ Dec 13th 2006 4:27PM
Someone, >, is giving Sony a LOT of credit. Are you the only one dumb enough to think that Sony had this "planned out?" Just admit whoever Sony employs for PR are retarded!
But whatever, Sony needs all the help they can get with their PSP. Considering the DS is destroying the PSP. You can quote numbers all you want, but everyone knows that Sony only reports numbers of systems sold to retail, not what consumers actually bought. On the other hand, Nintendo has 20+ million DSs in consumer hands.
Steve2 @ Dec 13th 2006 4:32PM
Yeah, what the hell? Doesn't Sony know that viral marketing is wrong.
Unless it's ilovebees.com or something. Then it's awesome.
> @ Dec 13th 2006 4:34PM
Did I just say a GameCube was being sold as a Wii? I'm sorry, I'm a little retarded, but no harm done, I did my homework (for once) and found out all these cool new features the GameCube didn't have:
*Better graphics (I thought that "overclocking" didn't make the graphics better LOL sorry for being a retard)
*News Channel, Weather Channel, Internet Channel, and firmware updates, Mii Channel, a proper online infrastructure. (I suffer from Sony Fanboyblindness, so I missed all these things, forgive me)
*A motion-sensing controller, that according to reviewers and costumers alike is not a just a gimmick and adds depth to the gameplay. (I didn't think this was much of a big deal LOL)
*Out of the box wireless controller, Virtual Console to play games from a lot of old consoles. Mii integration into some games.
*USB ports, digital out for PAL consoles, SD Card support as well as old memory card support, and a whole new sleek design. (Uhm yeah I thought this thing was a cube and purple like the GameCube, didn't wipe my face after sticking it in Ken's ass, his pasty brown shit blocked my view)
So yeah sorry for that, my severe mental sickness and prolonged licking Ken's pasty ass made me think the Wii was a GameCube, sorry, I thought it was a GameCube because it played GameCube games, little did I know this was an extra!
socrates @ Dec 13th 2006 4:36PM
While the viral marketing attempt was stupid, the "funky fresh" joke was pretty great.
> @ Dec 13th 2006 4:37PM
You guys are just crying because you know im right.. about the viral attempt (which you all played into) and the GameCube/Wii.
Yea, and posting under someone else's name is lame.
btsavage @ Dec 13th 2006 4:36PM
Confusing cleverness with deceit?
I don't know how you can equate this with deceit. There are millions of products sold on television that use actors in the place of actual customers giving so called testimonials as to the effectiveness of the product. Plus, it doesn't really seem that anyone was fooled. Nope, it was just plain old crappy marketing, plain and simple.
Chedabob @ Dec 13th 2006 4:39PM
Wait, Sony make "cool" products?
Phil @ Dec 13th 2006 4:38PM
>:
Or, they could just put it on Sony's own website, which already gets tons of traffic I'm sure.
I don't see what the payoff would be if your theory were true.
Flit @ Dec 13th 2006 4:38PM
HA! and now the site is wiped off of the internet entirely. I wonder if it is going to come back or not. If so, I elect ,>, to go and run the site for them
"oh you 1337 hackers got us, but we knew you were smart, so now we will tell you about the HUNDREDS of reasons to buy a psp... like... you can view porn! On the INternetzxl!"
socrates @ Dec 13th 2006 5:17PM
Oh, and "shift-period"...thanks so much! How did you know I asked for incoherent rambling for christmas?!?
Fhaze @ Dec 13th 2006 4:43PM
No publicity is bad publicity...
Most of us had forgotten about the PSP, I mean with all the great games available for the 360 and Nintendo DS. In addition to all those people playing Wii Sports. A few gems for the PS2 (Final Fantasy XII for those who are into that kind of thing). Round it out with PS3 bashing because a majority of us can't play it because of shortages.
Ah to be reminded that there is a sub par handheld gaming system we could buy instead. Remember, just because a handheld system is powerful, doesn't mean it will succeed, (Gamegear, Turbo Express, Lynx, Neo Geo Portable, Wonderswan).
PSP will RIP in 2007
Miniboss @ Dec 13th 2006 4:43PM
@ >
"The biggest scam this year is the GameCube being sold as the Wii."
Really? I thought it was the PS3 that wasn't finished yet...
luigi193 @ Dec 13th 2006 4:50PM
i just have one thing to say.
L
O
L
Pixelantes Anonymous @ Dec 13th 2006 4:45PM
>, not nearly as lame as being a brainless troll. G'day to you, too.
Doomstalk @ Dec 13th 2006 4:45PM
Inspired: Uh, the Gamecube can do 480p. You need a component cable that's ridiculously rare and games have to be written to support it, but I've done it.
ChrisBo @ Dec 13th 2006 4:45PM
>,
How in the HELL did you turn this into a Wii-bashing article? I'm starting to think you've got some serious problems, man.
"And, the only people who will care about the details are sony-haters."
Or gamers that don't like their intellegence being insulted, you patsy!
pixelator @ Dec 13th 2006 4:55PM
Jesus H, Joystiq, if you guys get any more hysterical in your anti-Sony diatribe and jubilant (and prolific) thrashing of anything they do, someone might think you're a Nintendo funded viral blog, yourselves.
*cough*
Earl @ Dec 13th 2006 4:53PM
At least the Wii was ready to be released. Miniboss got it right!
Sony should have taken another year to fix up that over-sized POS.
Actually, it would be wiser if they just offered a BDless PS3. It's not like any game needs BD. Oh Resistance you say? I bet if Sony told the studio to, they could have compressed the game better to fit on DVD. The game only takes 12 hours to beat and displays in 720p, so it's not that big!
Now make a PS3 with no BD and drop the price by $300 bucks and you got a system I might buy! This would mean more units in consumers' hands. Which, in turn, means developers MIGHT not bail on Sony in 2007.
snorkel @ Dec 13th 2006 4:59PM
@>
Let me get this straight..
Sony generates a website to advertise a product that is being completely destroyed by it's competitor (DS).
They then purposefully make this website appear to be unaffiliated with Sony directly, but instead make it appear to be a fansite by some seriously PSP obsessed kids who want their mommies to buy them one for Christmas. Look everyone! There *are* people out there who actually want our product! See! They even rap about it! How cool!!!!!
Then they purposefully do a crummy job of making the site look like a fansite, so that the community will easily figure out that Sony is really behind it. They do this because they -for some weird reason- want people to think that Sony is so incredibly desparate to sell the failing PSP that they would resort to making such a ridiculous site in an attempt to fool on the fence customers into purchasing a PSP over a DS.
And, as the final blow for this marketing masterpiece, after the cat is out of the bag and everyone is on to their clever little trick, they throw up a prepared statement owning up to the whole thing. Hehe.. Look at us.. We're just too clever for our own good.
And this all leads the great effect of.. what? Don't give me any of that all publicity is good publicity crap.. How in the world is this fiasco supposed to translate into more PSP sales or better PSP games being developed? Ooh! I really want the video game system that is doing so poorly that the manufacturer has resorted to horrifically bad fake fansites just to make people think that there is *anyone* out there who actually wants the thing. Woohah!
Man.. If only Nokia would have thought of these brilliant marketing ideas...
uglypimp @ Dec 13th 2006 5:06PM
I work at a market research company and companies pay a lot of money to try and design effective marketing techniques that generate POSITIVE interest in the product. Negative feedback about a campaign generally kills it before it sees the light of day.
The problem with 'guerilla' marketing/advertising is that you can't really test the ad groups with your intended audience. It's supposed to be a blind campaign and not recognizable as company funded.
I'm sure the pitch for this advertisement was something along the lines of utilizing YouTube as a hot, young FREE consumer platform to reach a youth market that were potential purchasers of a PSP. It obviously did not work as intended.
Yes, it's possible for company advertisement campaigns to fail unintentionally. Companys waste millions of dollars a year trying to reach deomgraphics for products that never connect with consumers.
Andy @ Dec 13th 2006 5:01PM
> does a better job at taking potshots at Nintendo/Microsoft than actually defending Sony..
I agree people are blowing this up, but ROFL, fanboys are actually trying to spin this!
"This 'confession' was planned from the beginning."
Hilarity all around on this site.
Skwurl @ Dec 13th 2006 5:07PM
“The biggest scam this year is the GameCube being sold as the Wii.”
Uh-huh.
Sony could brutally murder this guy’s family and he would still defend them – and put a anti-Nintendo spin on it too boot.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. ‘>’ suffers from pure unadulterated battered console syndrome.
Plus he’s a knob.
pixelator @ Dec 13th 2006 5:11PM
"Ah to be reminded that there is a sub par handheld gaming system we could buy instead. Remember, just because a handheld system is powerful, doesn't mean it will succeed, (Gamegear, Turbo Express, Lynx, Neo Geo Portable, Wonderswan)."
Yeah.
Except that the PSP has outsold the Gamecube and XBOX at this respective stage in their lives, and has outsold ALL other non-Nintendo handhelds ever produced, combines, worldwide. So... Yeah. I don't think so.
As for sub-par, I consider Mario retreads ad nauseum, an overabundance of kiddie licensed garbage like KIM POSSIBLE and Yet Another Goddamned Pokemon rehash to be pretty dang SUB-PAR, too, not that you or the rest of the slavering Ninty fanatic horde would ever admit that (or anything else negative about Holy Nintendo).
Sony certainly sucks in many ways, but you lot (along with Nintenstiq hopping eagerly on any and all anti-Sony news to stir the fanboys) elevate the Sony-hate-hysteria to a seriously new level. Meanwhile, I play my Wii, PS3, 360, DS and PSP and enjoy all the games I like on each without shutting the door on any particular brand because of some laughable single company bias or antagonism like the Nintendrones.
RHP @ Dec 13th 2006 5:08PM
Actually, A Knight's Tale is also correct. "David Manning" was the ficticious movie reviewer that Sony used to give it the film positive word of mouth. They also faked the reviews for Hollow Man, The Animal, The Patriot and Vertical Limit between 2000 and 2001.
On the advertising for the Patriot, Sony employees were used in television commercials posing as moviegoers, offering their praise for the film.
> @ Dec 13th 2006 5:09PM
So, >, instead of replying to my post which totally obliterated your dumbass remark that the Wii is a GameCube, you write it off by saying it's lame to steal names.
Oh well, enjoy bashing Nintendo and Microsoft for no reason, and glorifying the PS3 for no reason, the day you come up with objective arguments as to why the Sony is not the bullshit we all know it is, and get objective arguments as to why Nintendo sucks ass so much, it will be a cold day in hell.
Enough of your baseless Nintendo bashing and Sony glorifying.
Jackson Pritt @ Dec 13th 2006 5:08PM
@18, btsavage
The difference between this site and a commercial that uses paid actors is that a commecial is a completely transparent marketing attempt that we as consumers recognize has been paid for by the producer to get us interested in their product. This site masqueraded as a blog made by fans not affiliated with SONY who wanted PSPs and were discussing their authentic, non-affiliated opinions.
They were SONY-paid employees misrepresenting themselves and attempting to deceive people into thinking they weren't.
It's pretty clear-cut.
Hugh Mann @ Dec 13th 2006 5:07PM
Don't worry about > people.
This character has managed to post a pro Sony/anti Nintendo comment on just about every news item on Joystiq that I have read in the last few weeks. Jealousy can be a terrible thing you know.............
Justice @ Dec 13th 2006 5:13PM
You guys are sad. I mean seriously:
Aran
Jason
John
and anyone else telling Sony to die, needs soem help. HWy care if you guys are playing on your Wii's adn 360's. It's not affecting you, so just act civilized adn grow up. Call me a fanboy, but I like 360. But I'm not going to tell them to die and stuff. Get a life, I'm sure they are selling for $20 on eBay.
is @ Dec 13th 2006 5:23PM
> - What youre trying to do isnt working.
It isnt working because the world hate a company that lies to and extorts its consumers.
The world hates sony. You back the losing horse, bud.
Everyone loves nintendo, even when they fail. Y'know why? Cos of great games, great relationship to the consumer, and the risks they take continue to benefit the industry.
What have sony done? Turn the gaming industry into the movie industry so they can get rich off it. And now theyve fucked it up. Hahahahaaaa
Hugh Mann @ Dec 13th 2006 5:24PM
@40. What the fuck are you on about?
Marty @ Dec 13th 2006 5:22PM
How is this merely a diatribe of anti-Sony flare? This is deceitful and wrong, and Sony should be ashamed of themselves.
For the guy who said this is no different in the commercials on TV that use actors instead of actual customers, you are only partially correct. It's all about context, and consumer awareness. In magazines they have to print "advertisement" at the top or bottom of ads that may seem like features of the magazine, and on TV, it's pretty obvious when a product is being pitched to you... it's that 3 minute chunk of video that plays in between your show.
When a company tries to pass off advertising as a legitimate piece of media, it should be condemned. We can't all go out and try out all these electronics and games before we buy them, so instead we place our trust in the media to give us honest and truthful opinions... and Sony has tried to take advantage of this trust in a very wrong way. It hurts the rest of the legitimate media, as well as consumers when companies do this, and we should be outraged.
Those of you who think this is some carefully thought-out, well planned con on the public to set this up for the fall exactly as it did need look no further than Sony's fumbling of the launch of what could have been the biggest product in their company's history, the PS3. Obviously the company does not have the finesse to pull off something like this.
DiahrreaMan @ Dec 13th 2006 7:03PM
This just goes to show how low Sony can go. Oh well, good thing the only Sony consoly I ever bought was a ps2. Sucks to be a Sony fanboy these days. Back to playing FF-III. :)
TruthHurts @ Dec 13th 2006 5:37PM
Did all of you see the note from Ziptoni's management head leaked by an employee to SomethingAwful? (By the way my favorite new CBS sitcom is "Everybody Hates Sony!" cause we sure as hell do)
"Dear Zippers Everywhere,
Remember last Friday when we talked about great work and how that work is often polarizing? Guess what, we were right! As many of you know by now, our PSP site is receiving a great deal of criticism as is Zipatoni. This is a good thing...it is not beige!
Our clients are aware and unfazed. Their response, "you have to take the good with the bad." We are discussing potential future direction or lack thereof. Please know, we did NOT try to hide the fact that we created it...we purchased the domain name outright. Also, please know that we approached the client initially with this scenario and they said "who cares if people find out? As long as it is funny, we do this stuff all of the time."
Don't dismay...when was the last time people were blogging about Zipatoni? I'm confident Dawn will turn this into one helluva a case study in the months to come. K
Karen Sauder
President
ZIPATONI
RDX @ Dec 13th 2006 5:39PM
A little too clever? Christ. Trisomy 21 is more clever than this bullshit site was.
Ben Friesen @ Dec 13th 2006 5:43PM
To those that hadn't visited the website before Sony changed it (fessed up), there were thousands of comments that were being deleted at record pace regarding how much the PSP sucks, and why the DS is better. Personally, handhelds aren't my thing, but the reasoning goes like this:
The PSP does not have many good games. What it mostly has is ports of PS2 games. The only real standout titles are MGS: Portable Ops and Grand Theft Auto: Stories. Secondly, the UMD movie format is basically dead, seeing as almost all of the companies that were producing them have backed down or out (including Sony). UMD movies can't be played on a television, meaning that the only use for them is on the handheld. This basically takes out one of the purchase points of the PSP. Third, Sony has kept the UMD format proprietary, meaning that there are no blank UMDs or UMD writers.
Compare this to the DS. Sure, it has a lot of rehashed stuff like new Mario games and Yoshi's island, but it also has unique titles that reach the casual audience like Brain Age, WarioWare, and Nintendogs. I'm not saying that those are system sellers, but they're unique to the system and something you can't get anywhere else.
Oh, and the DS is $100 cheaper. For the price of a PSP, I could just buy a Wii.