Consoul shows more bizarre European PS3 marketing

by Alexander Sliwinski on Mar 17th 2007 4:29PM

We've given up trying to explain Sony's marketing plan. Yup, totally given up. Because the only thing more bizarre then the American commercials have been the European ones, and the subsequent marketing that goes with it. As Americans, we will not even attempt to explain how these things appeal or speak to European culture and will move PS3 units next Friday at launch. We'll allow our European readers to do that for us.

Sister site PS3 Fanboy discovered on Sony's "semi-official" blog, Three Speech, the cover to a Sony endorsed magazine for the PlayStation 3 called Consoul -- with a woman taking a poop on the cover. Oh, and if your German is just a tad rusty, the word "freude" scribbled on the bottom of the cover means joy. Yes, an official Sony PS3 magazine has a beautiful woman with her panties below the knees, taking a crap and the word joy at the bottom. After the break we have the same woman jumping on a bed in the newest European PS3 ad. Don't miss it!

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Tags: business, consoul, marketing, playstation 3, PS3, seriously?, sony

Reader Comments (87)

There is nothing "freude"-ful about a woman taking a shit wearing a thong...

That thought makes me shudder....

Oh, I get it, Sonya, the Sony blond, is telling me flush my Wii dont the toilet.

Like Bill Hicks says the ultimate ad would be a completely naked woman sitting in a chair with her legs spread wide and it just says 'Drink Coke'.

I don't know what it is but I'm buying it.

What the f*ck is wrong with German people?

Like this is a new strategy for Sony?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wpBPi4CjDMQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h28Kbdfmvbk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bqq38WZctA

Great stuff, I'm sure we all agree.
I love.

Love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eAJUYPCa7g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eAJUYPCa7g

What an absolute embarrassment of an ad. I don't know the complete history of advertising, but surely this is one of the worst campaigns of all time.

Sony has topped even its own past ads with this one.

"Freude am Scheisen"

I mean why are you people trying so hard to state that that sweet and gorgeous girl is doing any of the evacuation stuff.
And keep bashing it and bashing it like none of your girlfriends have ever taken a dump or a piss because you find it gross. Or you mom or your sis.

I mean I saw the girl and the only thing I could think about is "What a hot woman, Id like to have her, whatever her game is."

There is not a stinky pile anywhere on the photo, why you always have to look for the "shee it"?

Well yeah sex sells and games are no different and using a hot chick like that and using the stool to highlight her curves (love it), like saying:
"Down the toilet with your Freudian concerns you can have me anytime, I am yours"esque kinda thing.

Just relax, forget about the "shee it" and enjoy the curves.

Caption should say: "After playing the PS3 I really have to get this crap out of me".

Sony has some of the worst ads I've ever seen. And thanks, Vince UK, for posting those older ads of theirs. I'm surprised Sony has been able put out this crap for so long and keep their game business alive. I guess people will buy something no matter what image its advertising puts forth.

No Comment. Well, Maybe just one.

What the flying f*ck was that??!?!?

It obviously represents how all Sony does is shit on their customers. It was fairly obvious, and an unusually honest move for Sony.

I see no one commented on the more pressing imagery: a briefcase full of cash blowing up. What kind of message does that send? Buying a PS3 is just as good as putting your cash in a briefcase and tossing a grenade at it?

This should really be a caption contest...

I can't say these ads are the greatest, but you people are missing the obvious messages--the tv ad comes down to people having their fun their own way, completely engrossed the way a child playing make-believe is. But they're adults, the message being: pick your own game, you'll get so into it you'll forget to act 'restrained,' adult. & the cover of the magazine, I'd wager the concept was something along the lines of "beautiful release." I mean, what could be more alluring than that? She looks like she's taking a break between something & something else.

I still remember PS9, so apparently they're doing something right.

The better analysis is Sony is likely spending money on advertising that has an immaterial effect on sales. the PS2 unlikely did well because of those odd advertisements that failed to mention the PS2 until well after the average attention span lapsed. Sony is likely seeing this differently. PS2 succeeded therefore advertising was good. My guess is that advertising isn't effective and the PS2 sold on the quality of the software offerings, not a girl with a deformed head or a minute-long Cannes Film Festival entry.

At best, a girl sitting on the john and whatever that television ad was won't have any impact as no one will pay attention to them. Probably best not waste the money in the first place.

The mag photo would have been hailed as awesome if they would have only put a PSP in her hands.

Hey that subliminal ad is totally Sony PS3! A dumb blonde with big boobs, and is shit.

Not one pointed out the whole "Consoul" vs. "Console" thing that Sony has going on, or that the blonde is pointing at the PS3 logo at the top left of the picture.

I think i finally understood what that ad means... it means..

the PS 3 is so powerful but it's full of [expletive]. We're dropping the bomb right now so you can blow your money on us.

ok.. maybe it doesn't mean that but that exploding bad with wads of money just screams "blow your money on us"

By the way, what the fuck does a corporation know about "Soul"? (See: All I Want From Xmas is a PSP site.)

Maybe if they called it "Con-soulless", I'd believe it more.

Sony trying to be artistic is like a dog trying to meow.

"The mag photo would have been hailed as awesome if they would have only put a PSP in her hands."

Coincidentally, Nintendo has a DS commercial in France that shows a guy playing Mario Kart while sitting on a toilet.

If you look at it from a up your own (insert word here) media (insert word here), which I am not, the advert says, look at things from a different perspective(aka how the grenade blew-up the luggage), exactly what perspective I dont't know, but that is the message.

Even whilst dropping a deuce, that broad is still damn hot.

It looks like they are going after Coca-Cola, Nike etc in advertising: big expensive weird but great advertisemlents.
yet Sony does not understand it is not a big compagny anymore and if they copy great ideas they always seem to forget the 'great' part.

They want to sell a $600 dollar machine in times that a computer with screen costs 600$. The PS2 was $300 in times that even the most basic computer costed over $2000. To sell such expensive toy you don't have to be great, you have to be awesome.

First, watch your language everybody. Secondly, I can't for the life of me think what this ad represents. There isn't one correlation to the actual product. Also, what does a hot girl taking a crap have anything to do with the actual product. It just seems like they were all high, put their suggestions in a hat, then made some advertisements. I give up Sony. You guy are officially dead to me.

I'm starting to get the impression that Sony has been visiting Adcritic.com and watching the Apple 1984 commercial, and trying to think of how to top it.

Well, for sheer veracity and missing the point - Mission Accomplished.

Man it's a naked chick on the cover, what else could you aks for *LOL*.

"random thought: maybe she's taking a leak?"

No way, man. She's totally dropping a duke.

everyone has been thinking the same thing for the last 6 months, "did sony go crazy?"

I think this is just them responding with a resounding "YES!"

(To 42) Szu - a bidet perhaps? With a fancy pull chain... or a remote thingy.. I can't tell - she has things in both her hands.
Some people apparently enjoy that kind of thing, so perhaps that is the reason for "freude"?
In any case, it has nothing at all to do with the products they are trying to sell.
(And I don't think she's pooping. Who has that look on their face then?)

And Con-soul?... Contrary? Scam? Yeah, why not..

I really detest Sony advertisements. Especially when they're purposefully irrelevant, controversial and confusing. All the time really...

I believe a more accurate translation of "Freude" in this context would be "Euphoria" with the meaning of a physiological reaction - "Euphoria" is the feeling of relief upon evacuating faeces as the intervening muscles wind down. So it's wordplay between Euphoria as a medical term and JOY as a proper emotion....

Sorry for the double-post, but this ad isn't cryptic or mysterious at all: it's quite obvious and somewhat boring at that. A cheap shot.

And seriouly guys, you can't whip yourselves into an indignant frenzy because an advertising company TRIES to be all snooty and petulant... "TRIES" IS CAPTIONS because you CAN'T GO ALL DAVID LYNCH IN AN AD... advertising is an intrinsically conservative medium in terms of semiotics, i.e. it's as far away as it gets from blowing people's minds because that is the exact opposite of what it's for.... Ads are familiar, comfortable... advertising cannot, will not be art....

... I find this trend in Sony ads to be amusing.... because they are basically flip-flopping the entire purpose of the means of promotion (in this case advertising)

It's like trying to get viral results without going viral...

Anyone who knows anything knows that this was first done by Jenny McCarthy for Candies. I mean, its classic advertising! What's the big deal?

http://home.business.utah.edu/mktrwb/candies.jpg

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Consoul shows more bizarre European PS3 marketing

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