Sony America drops ad agency of 13 years -- now?
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Nov 29th 2007 at 3:56PM }
There's still some questions that'll probably be clarified when an official announcement of the new ad agency is made. For example, all information on the issue speaks directly to Sony America, however TBWA is also responsible for the twisted, disruptive, ridiculous, and sometimes racist, European ads as well. Sony has yet to comment.
[Via GameDaily]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
LilCo187 @ Nov 29th 2007 4:02PM
Karma is a funny thing man. It hit Nintendo and their arrogance in the earlier 90's with the post SNES days, and now its hittin Sony and their arrogance post PS2 days...
the_game_master @ Nov 29th 2007 4:38PM
Don't you mean post "NES" days? Like Sony, Nintendo had a rough start selling SNES when they faced strong competition to Sega with its Genesis, and a strong anti-Nintendo backlash that went on in the early 90s.
FidliousWong @ Nov 29th 2007 4:44PM
Yeah, people do tend to forget the backlash from both the high defect rate and the anti-trust issues.
I mean, I hate Wal-mart like many but one thing they did do right was tell nintendo to f-off with their bullying tactics.
gonk @ Nov 29th 2007 6:16PM
and now walmart bullies all their suppliers, lol
LilCo187 @ Nov 29th 2007 7:31PM
Don't you mean post "NES" days?
I meant their arrogance in the early 90's LED TO the struggles after the SNES days...sorry for the confusion.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 29th 2007 4:03PM
*gives a fucking standing ovation*
Marc Federico @ Nov 29th 2007 4:37PM
LOL ya sonys commercials have been so horrible for both psp and ps3. however they werent so bad on the ps2. their main problem is they are so off topic and dont show any in game video, only pre-rendered nonsense unrelated to the gameplay, which is what entices gamers. the 1 decent commercial set was the latest ps3 one that would show some in game for heavenly sword and drake's fortune. they still showed mostly all pre-rendered nonsense though, losing all credibility once they started putting lame-o videos in with it. the commercials would be much more effective just saying ps3 at $399. gamers know the games. non gamers wanna see the graphics.
Chilly Willy @ Nov 29th 2007 4:57PM
Anyone remember the PS2 era commercial about the PS9? That was a brilliant ad. Sony doesn't make them like that any more, that's for sure.
Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 29th 2007 5:13PM
@Marc
Ummm... almost all the video, if not all, in the $399 commercials is not prerendered.
Brello @ Nov 29th 2007 6:34PM
"Dude, get your own." *facepalm*
j.R @ Nov 29th 2007 4:08PM
Hey Sony America... why don't you figure out who's doing you're Bravia ads in Europe AND HIRE THEM!!!!
FidliousWong @ Nov 29th 2007 4:12PM
Umm, they did.
Also, the PS3 ads were not done by this company. Instead this company merely commissioned the talents of the Superfad group.
http://superfad.com/index.php
Alex Levine @ Nov 29th 2007 5:00PM
Indeed. Anyone in Advertising knows that Chiat/Day is also responsible for hugely successful advertising campaigns for Apple and other companies.
Jmoney @ Nov 29th 2007 4:11PM
"Sony has yet to comment."
They don't need to. The article says enough...
I'm actually starting like sony now...they're finally getting their heads out their asses....
Mightyelf @ Nov 29th 2007 4:15PM
In the words of the famous Simpson reporters on Krusty`s retirement press conference:
Why now Krusty why not 10 years ago?
Fadobo @ Nov 29th 2007 4:13PM
Two words: about time.
No get rid of the crazy ****** that do the european PS3-commercials.
FidliousWong @ Nov 29th 2007 4:28PM
They did. That's what this story is about.
Fadobo @ Nov 29th 2007 4:30PM
oh, whoops. skipped the last sentence ^^ thank you
Anticrawl @ Nov 29th 2007 4:55PM
The European commercial with the chick taking a dump and the old guy in the bath almost made me buy the PS3.... yeah.
What were they thinking? Maybe a new ad agency can help Sony lie their way back to the top again.
FidliousWong @ Nov 29th 2007 4:14PM
Umm, they still supported PSX in 2005. Oh wait, this is a Fernando comment. I keep forgeting to throw my browsers "chode filter" on. My bad.
Fernando Rocker @ Nov 29th 2007 4:17PM
You know what I meant...
The PSX in the 2005 was not their principal console... their planning in keep the PS3 as their primary console until 2016.
FidliousWong @ Nov 29th 2007 4:26PM
They are? News to me. They said they expect PS3 to be a viable platform for 10 years. PSX was a finacially viable platform for 8 (I BELIEVE Madden 2005 was the last US distributed PSX game but Japan gets reprints all the time.. see MGS). PS2 is looking to have long legs as well. Given this information, believing PS3 would be a viable platform for 10 years is hardly a radical fantasy.
Never did they say PS3 would be the primary console for 10 years.
megaStryke @ Nov 29th 2007 4:37PM
Consoles are only supported past their normal lifespan if they are POPULAR (key word here). The NES had a long lifespan (1983-1994). The SNES had a long lifespan (1990-1998). The original Game Boy had a long lifespan (1989-1998, not including Game Boy Color games which sometimes worked on original GB hardware).
The N64 and the GameCube? Dead after roughly five/six years.
FidliousWong @ Nov 29th 2007 4:48PM
I said it before, I'll say it again. I refuse to rign a death knell for a console that has 6 million+ sold in this time frame. Some consoles couldn't catch a break. Right now, Sony is in last place, but it's still far outperforming 3DO, CD-i, and Jaguar parallels people are making. Who's to say they won't turn it around? Doubtful they will but if at the end of this gen war, Sony manages to achieve 40 million, that will be enough to continue support on that console. Especially since Sony themselves are infamous about supporting their previous userbase instead of forcing an upgrade (ala GOW2, Socom, etc.)
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Nov 29th 2007 5:09PM
Didn't dreamcast have about 10 million sold at this stage in its lifetime?
FidliousWong @ Nov 29th 2007 5:16PM
Nope, took two years for DC to reach 10 million. You also forget Sega was killed by bad business practices and 10+ years of running red. Hell, Dreamcast was profitable when it was cancelled.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 29th 2007 4:14PM
And remember kids:
Don't forget to bring your towels!!
Christopher7xii @ Nov 29th 2007 4:26PM
Fuck. You beat me to it.
Phranctoast @ Nov 29th 2007 5:57PM
having never read the book and not remembering if it was explained in the movie. wth is up with the towels.
jovin6 @ Nov 29th 2007 6:18PM
Just do yourself a favor and read the books. The movie is almost completely worthless in comparison.
Steven @ Nov 29th 2007 4:21PM
42
Christopher7xii @ Nov 29th 2007 4:26PM
Towel > 42
rTwelve @ Nov 29th 2007 10:48PM
Oh no, not again.
Kamall @ Nov 29th 2007 4:23PM
Isn't it good that Sony would support its console for such a long time? Isn't it good the PS2 has been supported after the PS3 came out unlike the Xbox which was totally abandoned when the 360 came out?
Your hatred of Sony is just staggering, they can do no good for you, you must have had a personal experience with them.
Emceay @ Nov 29th 2007 4:31PM
Ah yes, but the 360 didn't have it's backward compatibility stripped as a result. As for TBWA's departure, maybe now Sony can start the long walk back into a respectable light.
ThornedVenom @ Nov 29th 2007 4:32PM
This is the smartest move Sony has done in a long time, besides bringing rumble back and lowering the PS3 to 400 dollars.
Synner @ Nov 29th 2007 4:33PM
BEST
PICTURE
EVAR
BLinn @ Nov 29th 2007 4:48PM
Lets see what will happen next...
adamantypants @ Nov 29th 2007 4:53PM
I f@#$ing love The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Currently reading all 5 novels and short story.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 29th 2007 5:06PM
What I loved even more is that it's a trilogy with 5 books.
Fucking amazing.
Christopher7xii @ Nov 29th 2007 5:13PM
What I love even more is a "Trilogy" that is only one book / movie. See Lord of the Rings for more info.
Ally @ Nov 29th 2007 6:08PM
DONT PANIC!
;)
adamantypants @ Nov 30th 2007 1:31AM
Funny.
I'm holding all the books in my hands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchhikers_guide
Ethan @ Nov 29th 2007 5:04PM
Somebody at TBWA hasn't moved past their creative writing class at college, they still appear to be trying to impress a very misguided lecturer.
Ethan @ Nov 29th 2007 5:07PM
Coloured geometric shapes touch Fernando inappropriately at night. I don't have any proof, but my gut told me it was true.
Ethan @ Nov 29th 2007 8:03PM
This would've made far more sense if it had followed Kamall's comment like it was supposed to.
Richard Mitchell @ Nov 29th 2007 5:10PM
Hooray for the Hitchhikers Guide. The mere reference has improved my day.
DarkTetsuya @ Nov 29th 2007 5:27PM
While I actually kinda liked 'I'M PLAYIN' NUT!' ... the rest of their ads were, to put it mildly, retarded. (like the guy in the new PSP ads? God I want to break his nose! Or the PS3 crying baby?
Hopefully these new guys will know how to market something.
Mr Khan @ Nov 29th 2007 5:32PM
Yeah, i liked the old PSP ads, even if they were disturbingly "urban"
"PSP, its like cheese you can play outside."
While PS3 commercials have improved, PSP commercials have gone into the crapper. The dude get your own campaign is... aggravating... to say the least
Sam @ Nov 29th 2007 5:37PM
how is it that TBWA/whatever could make such amazing commercials for Apple products and rubbish ones for Sony?