Sony Pulls Killzone 2 Ads From Toronto

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Sony Pulls Killzone 2 Ads From Toronto


Killzone 2 [http://www.sony.ca/] ad campaign in Toronto after the company received complaints that the large "menacing head with glowing eyes" was frightening children.

About 300 large posters for Killzone 2 were pulled from Toronto bus shelters after complaints were filed over the violent imagery contained in the ad. The first complaint came from Davis Mirza, a teacher from the Scarborough suburb of Toronto, who emailed Sony Canada after seeing the ad posted in a shelter near his school.

"My kids, who come from a lot of different countries, who have to experience violence, who basically come here to seek shelter and safety, that's the stuff they don't need to see," he said. "I don't think that when you're in Scarborough, where we're having to deal on a constant basis with violence, that does anything to help promote any kind of community renewal or even responsibility."

Sony removed the ad after receiving the complaint, said company spokesman Kyle Moffatt, and then took down ten more at the request of Toronto City Councillor Pam McConnell due to similar complaints from another part of the city. Soon after, the company decided to pull all the remaining posters. "They were coming down at the end of the week," Moffatt said. "We just asked them to speed up the process."

Moffatt added that even though Sony Canada doesn't control specific locations for the ads, it will establish an "off-limits radius" around school zones in future advertising campaigns for similar products.

Source: TheStar.com [http://www.thestar.com/article/600862]


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PedroSteckecilo

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Feb 7, 2008
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I find this kind of funny though I do feel a little creeped out seeing those red eyes peering at me from bus stations here in Calgary.
 

cainx10a

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May 17, 2008
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I attend college in Scarborough, and it was actually pretty funny to see these posters around.
 

Brotherofwill

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Jan 25, 2009
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I think this just shows that it's good advertisement, did what they wanted it too.

Kids these days are pussies anyway, I would have been thrilled by a little visual stimulus back in the day.
 

I III II X4

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Nov 14, 2008
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Aw c'mon, how could you not wanna hug that Helgahn? Look at him, that glow is the glow from his soul.
 

Yog Sothoth

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Dec 6, 2008
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In other news, Canada ran and hid under it's bed after someone came up behind it and yelled "Boo!"
 

Aardvark

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What happened to you, Canada? You used to be cool. How many other countries have burned down the White House? Seriously, man up or hand in your testicles.
 

Aramax

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Sep 27, 2007
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Glowing eyes... scary stuff I tell you.

I dont know how those children are going to react when science is going to prove that dead people spiritual remains really do hide under their bed...

Sony should really use this as an excuse for guerrilla marketing and create a bunch of posters for the game but with lots of kid friendly colors, rainbow in the soldier eyes and a big smile on the mask for good measure... in the maintime we create realistic Helghast costumes and wait for the bus just to scare those young twerps.

Gentlemen's, I present you operation crybaby.
 

Pebsy

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Jun 12, 2008
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ive seen these posters around, I ddint know it was a canadian thing only. But I admit they look a little intimidating at best due to the face its a large bus shelter poster, but nothing really violent strikes out besides the name.
 
Mar 12, 2009
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For some reason this is funnier because it happened in Canada.

But for a young kid that could be quite a scary advert... Then again we might be mollycoddling kids, I have no idea what to make of this.

Still it's not like the publicity campaign on the game rested solely on these bus shelter posters. Glad to see Sony pulled down the posters instead of causing a huge row over the affair although that would've gotten some great free publicity too...

In my next post, I come to a definite conclusion! Or not.
 

Avatar Roku

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Aardvark said:
What happened to you, Canada? You used to be cool. How many other countries have burned down the White House? Seriously, man up or hand in your testicles.
I thought it was England that did that? War of 1812, right?
 

Jumplion

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Mar 10, 2008
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PedroSteckecilo said:
I find this kind of funny though I do feel a little creeped out seeing those red eyes peering at me from bus stations here in Calgary.
Ironically, I think that's what Guerrilla wanted to impose on the Helghast, make them fearful to look on.
 

Frank_Sinatra_

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Dec 30, 2008
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I III II X4 said:
Aw c'mon, how could you not wanna hug that Helgahn? Look at him, that glow is the glow from his soul.
Correction Helghast. Helghan is the planet.

Seems kinda pathetic that they would be scared of the eyes. You know what fine, if they take that down then I demand they stop advertising insurance companies on billboards!
That was a bad analogy.
 

ElArabDeMagnifico

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Chris B Chikin said:
Malygris said:
About 300 large posters for Killzone 2 were pulled from Toronto bus shelters after complaints were filed over the violent imagery contained in the ad.
Heh - What did they think it meant, "This bus shelter is a KILLZONE!!!"?
If that's a pun, I took it seriously, because I thought the same thing.

"This is a Killzone?! Is this Zone 2?! ARE THOSE RED EYE'D GUYS GONNA KILL US!?"
 

Jumplion

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Somethingfake said:
I thought Sony had more backbone than this?
Ehem, I thought everyone realized they didn't when they took down LBP from the shelves a week before release?

Still haven't forgiven them entirely for that...
 

NeedAUserName

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Aug 7, 2008
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Malygris said:
... it will establish an "off-limits radius" around school zones in future advertising campaigns for similar products.
Does that mean they are already planning Killzone 3...