Chilean PS3 ad depicts gamer giving blood to Nazi officer [update]

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 29th 2009 at 4:28PM }

[Update: Apparently, BBDO Chile created these ads to submit to a number of ad design competitions and festivals, and received no official endorsement or approval from Sony. BBDO Chile's president has issued an apology for the use of Sony's branding without its permission. His full statement can be found after the jump.]

Original: Here we go again: A Chilean advertisement for PS3, created by major ad firm BBDO, has become the source of a great deal of controversy for showing a modern day gamer giving a blood transfusion ... to a Nazi! The National Socialist in question is intended to be Erwin Rommel, a German field marshal whose humane treatment of captive soldiers and refusal to kill Jewish civilians made him a fairly respected military figure -- but we doubt the casual observer's initial reaction to the ad goes much further than, "Oh gawd, is that a ... swastika!"

Then again, after being accused of promoting racism and endorsing, nay, providing instructions on suicide, accusations of harboring Nazi sympathies is kind of par for the course for Sony's PlayStation advertising. Check out the full advertisement -- as well as a similar, equally perplexing ad depicting a gamer giving his still-beating heart to Joan of Arc -- after the jump.

(By the way, we'll be patrolling comments on this post for any invocation of Godwin's Law. Keep it civil, gang.)

[Via Engadget]

"'This creative design did not involve and was never approved by Sony Computer Entertainment or Sony. This "mock campaign" was developed by BBDO Chile staff and was submitted to various creative competitions/festivals without prior notification or approval from SCE/Sony, and it is not representative of the views or advertising policies of SCE/Sony. BBDO Chile apologizes for using this creative concept without authorization or prior approval, and for its misrepresentation of the PlayStation brand and its values.'"

-- Cristián Lehuedé, president of BBDO Chile

Tags: ads, advertising, bbdo, chile, erwin-rommel, nazi, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

The Artist formerly known as Jesus @ Sep 29th 2009 4:32PM

This will definitely appeal to that Nazi demographic that console companies try so hard to tap into.

NaeemTHM @ Sep 29th 2009 4:44PM

Hey anything is better than this:

http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/ps3thumbad/1001466662

The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Sep 29th 2009 4:46PM

ah gawd, i thought id forgotten about that

GiggMan @ Sep 29th 2009 4:56PM

Naeem I honestly could have went all day without seeing that......

Zerokku @ Sep 29th 2009 5:01PM

@ Naeem

Jesus Christ, NSFW warning next time?

Courtney @ Sep 29th 2009 5:25PM

@Zerroku

That was an official Sony ad for the PS3, seems extreme to label normal advertising as NSFW.

[ArchiGamer] [Live from Omicron Persei 8] @ Sep 29th 2009 5:26PM

What the hell!?

I'm gay, and even -I- find that weird.

Sly (Now equipped with DS!) @ Sep 29th 2009 5:27PM

what's wrong with his analog stick?!

THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Sep 29th 2009 5:27PM

"Chilean PS3 ad depicts gamer giving blood to Nazi officer-Nazi asks for seconds." There the headline is fixed.

pibs @ Sep 29th 2009 5:32PM

Why Oh Why did I have to click on that link :/

Just wrong....

Stevetrop @ Sep 29th 2009 8:13PM

I reckon that a future add will in some way implement a gamer, car mechanic and Mecha-Hitler.

rohan @ Sep 29th 2009 4:33PM

LOL.....
that is all

Prof. Von Manifest of the Clan McCloud (illogical logic is still logical) @ Sep 29th 2009 5:47PM

Hello, where is the new PS3 logo??
Did we travel back in time?

THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Sep 30th 2009 2:19PM

You and I are infact, Turtles in Time!!!!

B3astofthe3ast @ Sep 29th 2009 4:33PM

I don't see how this convinces me to buy a PS3.

robert @ Sep 29th 2009 5:10PM

They're appealing to the "mass genocide" demographic of youngsters, which is a valued market in the gaming industry.

Bill$ @ Sep 29th 2009 5:42PM

it makes me wanna play Silent Hill, actually.

Warp Whistle @ Sep 29th 2009 9:05PM

Sony seems driven to constantly hire graphic design "artists" opposed to graphic designers so we keep getting these weird, metaphoric, symbolic messes that really mean nothing and don't even try to sell anything.

Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 29th 2009 4:34PM

I don't get the message of theses ads. I'm just missing it COMPLETELY.

WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Sep 29th 2009 4:44PM

Yea I don't get it either. I don't really care about the controversy, but what the hell is the POINT of these ads?

I get the feeling they're going the Rockstar route, just doing something controversial for the sake of getting attention.

McWilly @ Sep 29th 2009 4:52PM

Buy a PS3 = supporting Nazism. So obvious.

Calvin @ Sep 29th 2009 4:55PM

There is no message. It's just a controversial theme to get people talking.

You know how much it costs to throw up a few billboards in Chile? I don't, but I'm sure it's a lot cheaper than in America or in Japan. They also probably have less content regulations, which is how these get put up in the first place. I doubt these would be permitted to make it past proposal phases in America.

So what Sony does is make some controversial ad campaign on the cheap and it gets international attention because people become offended... but you get PS3 on the mind and generate buzz, which are the main goals of advertising anyways.

That's how I see it all at least

WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Sep 29th 2009 5:07PM

@Calvin

Yea, I figured as much.

ELUNO @ Sep 29th 2009 5:29PM

In my point of view, the message is that you give life to these playable characters.
But done in a really BAD way.

Eh @ Sep 29th 2009 5:30PM

Why dont they just kill someone? That will get a whole load of buzz. Put some anthrax in a PS3 box, or a bomb. A lawsuit would be cheaper than a big ad campaign. The media would go ape shit all over the world, everyone will be talking about how they hate Sony, its the perfect ad!

Remember when Jack in the Box got all that free publicity after poisoning some kid and killing him? They barely went out of business but it got people talking.

Or when some lady put a finger in Wendy's chili? Wendy's lost millions and had to close down restaurants but it got people talking about Wendy's.

Im not sure where this "bad press = good press" myth came from but its certainly not true. What do you think public relations is for? They do damage control because bad press is actually bad and hurts the business. Bad press is incredibly easy to generate and if it worked then every CEO out there would be saying they hate black people, theres nothing genius about being offensive. When you offend a customer you lose a customer, period.

Prof. Von Manifest of the Clan McCloud (illogical logic is still logical) @ Sep 29th 2009 5:37PM

Are we suppose to come to the conclusion that the officer is a Nazi because of the German cross nurses? & why Joan of arc, why not Arc the lad?

And is he a gamer because he doesn't know how to dress or because he's dumb enough to get these procedures in an inhuman place?

Prof. Von Manifest of the Clan McCloud (illogical logic is still logical) @ Sep 29th 2009 5:40PM

@ELUNO

I think you got it!!!
(no sarcasm!)

HidekiPena @ Sep 29th 2009 6:17PM

omg, its the other way around, the gamer is taking the "strength" of the nazi, or the worrier. there adds are stupid..

Cypher @ Sep 29th 2009 7:05PM

Sony didn't post this ad.

It was CLEARLY a marketing ploy by Microsoft to imply that PS3 gamers are Nazis.

Very clever, Mr. Gates,,,

mahouneko @ Sep 29th 2009 8:45PM

Guys, it's not supposed to be Joan of Arc. It's supposed to be Florence Nightingale. I think Griffin messed up his history.

aristokrat @ Sep 30th 2009 2:11PM

Joan of Arc would be the lady lying on the other table, awaiting a heart transplant, not the nurse performing the switch. The ad would make even less sense (i didn't realize that was possible) if Florence Nightengale was just going to take off with the dude's heart.

fco. @ Oct 1st 2009 2:10PM

I live in Chile and this is the first time I see those adds. As the update points out, this is some kind of "fantasy" campaign which was never used.

[Tre (TM), whom you must pay royalties to say his name] [blogs at trespeak.tumblr.com] @ Sep 29th 2009 4:34PM

"But-but-but... that isn't politically correct!" as a certain classmate of mine would say.

Taylor @ Sep 29th 2009 4:42PM

I don't think this has anything to do with being politcally correct. These ads are just pointless, confusing, and slightly disturbing. How are these ads supposed to entice people to buy a PS3?

aristokrat @ Sep 30th 2009 2:25PM

I can definitely see a politically sensitive angle here, if you look at Chilean history. The Chileans didn't want to sever ties with Nazi Germany during the 40's, which led to lot of western hemisphere nazi operations being based there. Additionally, post-WWII, many Nazi officers fled to Chile (and surrounding countries) where they attempted to hide and were protected by Allende (who, despite his anti-fascist stance, refused to extradite certain officers) and even more so by Pinochet, basically a Nazi himself, who purportedly used ex-SS officers in designing his own programs and concentration camps. Since Pinochet only fell in 1990, the fallout of this period of Chile's history is still present, as trials are still going on for the actions of these harbored criminals.