British commuters probably remember seeing these confusing early 2006 PSP posters plastered around train stations, buses, and the London Tube. The one advertisement pictured here, which reads "Your girlfriend's white bits here," has been interpreted as sexist due to the vagueness of the words and the lack of an image to bring the thought around full circle. Even worse, was this ad suggesting one should "Take a running jump from here." Alone, the ad doesn't sound so bad; however, when you put the suggestive slogan prominently at train station platforms ... then there's something amiss.
Other such posters read "Strong language and scenes of a sexual nature here" and "Saucy emails won't get you fired here." The randomness of the words never gave passersby a clue that these ads were, in fact, referring to the PSP's functions: store photos (white bits), gaming (jump), movies (scenes) , and web browsing (saucy emails). Of course, that understanding only became crystal after an explanation.
Despite receiving 45 public complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority didn't ban the ads. And while the campaign was controversial, it certainly didn't compare in disruption magnitude as another European PSP ad that would appear months later (and a few spots down in this article).
7. PSP - Graffiti fiasco
Sony's graffiti art advertisement campaign started appearing in major cities all across the United States back in 2005. As you can see from the defaced image above, the campaign rubbed many people the wrong way. Why all the hate? For starters, denizens were angry about the unsightly blemish that these ads left on their city landscape. On a deeper level, the fact that a major corporation was in charge of something like this enticed those true artists, who found the whole idea annoyingly ironic, to react. Thirdly, the images themselves could be seen as controversial -- images that depicted hypnotized children hooked on their PSPs. When you put all these thoughts together and attach them to an already boiling animosity towards a wider controversy regarding Sony's DRM practices, then that's when the excrement really hit the fan.
6. City of Lost PlayStation Commercial
This French ad is strange to say the least. Its dark atmosphere and black humor are reminiscent of the French film Cité des enfants perdus (City of Lost Children), but of course that won't come across clearly for everyone. The sexual innuendos are certainly tacked on for French tastes but none of this explains what walking boobies and clown heads in a cannon have to do with the PlayStation brand. As the ad would suggest, these images are the construct or the thoughts of a man who represent PS gamers. It's actually quite insulting to think that the advertisers believe we're all psychotic and perverted.
More strikingly, and more important, can you see the huge difference between this PS2 commercial and the one higher up on this list? It's obvious that from this we can see the machinations of a new breed of PS3 ads to come. This French commercial, while terrible on its own, is made far worse when you realize this is what trumpeted the beginning of the impending PS3 ad apocalypse.
