Chilean PS3 Ad Shows Gamer Giving Blood to Nazi Officer

[John Funk]

Chilean PS3 Ad Shows Gamer Giving Blood to Nazi Officer

Sony's marketing department has once again come under fire for a Chilean print ad for the PS3 that depicts a modern-day gamer giving a blood transfusion to a Nazi officer.

Oh, Sony. You were doing so well [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94638-Buy-a-PS3-Slim-or-Sony-Will-Sleep-With-Your-Wife], too!

A Chilean advertisement for the PS3 developed by major ad firm BBDO has generated quite a deal of controversy, since it depicts a (quite clearly modern-day) gamer donating blood to a *gasp* Nazi [http://org-cds002.dc1.cdn.themis-media.com/m9z2g8u7/cds/media/global/images/galleries/full/60/60005.jpg?dopvhost=cdn.themis-media.com]! If the uniform didn't tip you off, how about the faint swastikas at the head of the bed?

Now, apparently the Nazi in question is the original Erwin Rommel [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagnificentBastard], who was actually fairly respected by allies and foes alike for being a decent chap - as far as Nazis go, anyway. Rommel's supposed virtue aside, though, this just seems strange.

The other ad in the set [http://org-cds001.dc1.cdn.themis-media.com/m9z2g8u7/cds/media/global/images/galleries/full/60/60004.jpg?dopvhost=cdn.themis-media.com] is much less controversial, but no less perplexing: It shows a happy (again, modern-day) gamer donating his still-beating heart to Joan of Arc. I'm just... I'm honestly baffled. I cannot figure out for the life of me what the hell these ads are supposedly trying to communicate. "If you buy a PS3, you'd donate blood to a Nazi"? Has Sony intentionally and irrevocably invoked Godwin's law on itself?

If there's one group of people who gamers (or, indeed, anyone else) probably wouldn't want to be compared to, it's the Nazis. Even with Sony's controversial [http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/warning-psp-ads-can-kill-you/] ads, I was usually able to make some sense of it. But these? I got nothing.

I guess the chemicals are back in the water supply for Sony's ad people. We should have known that their momentary lucidity wouldn't last.

(Keep the comments clean, folks. We'll be watching.)

(Engadget [http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=y&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adme.ru%2Fprints%2F2009%2F09%2F29%2F65821%2F&sl=auto&tl=en&history_state0=])

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[Megacherv]

No! It's about you being in the game. Think about it, your blood or heart being transferred into a person from the past, that could, ooh say, be featured in a FUCKING GAME! Besides, this is just Sony in that region, not all of Sony.

 

[Nimbus]

They're off their meds again, huh? I knew it couldn't last.

 

[zidine100]

Heh any press is good press from sonys point of view i guess.

 

[Lord George]

No! It's about you being in the game. Think about it, your blood or heart being transferred into a person from the past, that could, ooh say, be featured in a FUCKING GAME! Besides, this is just Sony in that region, not all of Sony.

The transferring blood thing kinda makes sense, but why a Nazi? Surely an action hero/heroine would have made a lot more sense rather then what's likely to be the villain in a game if he ever appeared in one.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Well... I gotta admit... Erwin Rommel was a pretty cool guy.

 

[Aedes]

:O ...
No, seriously, what are they trying to accomplish? Every single human being on the planet knows Sony marketing department is one of the creppiest that have ever existed.
I have felt weirdness, fear, joy, WTF and many other kind of emotions through Sony's PlayStation propaganda and once again, they prove what they're capable.

Just WTF again. They will never learn. >.<

 

[zidine100]

No! It's about you being in the game. Think about it, your blood or heart being transferred into a person from the past, that could, ooh say, be featured in a FUCKING GAME! Besides, this is just Sony in that region, not all of Sony.

The transferring blood thing kinda makes sense, but why a Nazi? Surely an action hero/heroine would have made a lot more sense rather then what's likely to be the villain in a game if he ever appeared in one.

controvercy and to catch peoples attention.

 

[ActualOvaltine]

Well... I gotta admit... Erwin Rommel was a pretty cool guy.

I would donate blood to him.

OT: Wha? Who? Wh? A buuuuuuuuuuuuh?

 

[ae86gamer]

It took me forever to find both swastikas in the picture. It was like Where's Waldo.

EDIT: Sony should hire someone else to do their advertising. The people they have now are doing it wrong.

 

[Ellivader]

I don't know about anyone else but, the second ad? The one with the heart? Yeah, that's the sort of shit that's might put people off buying a PS3. I know it's not meant to be taken seriously, but it's freaky! And not good freaky! D:

 

[sirdanrhodes]

OK, this is, odd. Why are Sony trying to make us out as messiahs who help everyone and everything? Do the media hate us that much?

 

[meglathon]

Ha ha haaa.... oh Sony y are you so bad at adds.

 

[Supreme Unleaded]

All i want to know is, who the hell is the target audience, some WW11 vets that knew that nazi in particular was an okay fellow?

 

[rougeknife]

On one hand, what the fuck?*

On the other hand, Rommel. Rommel is one of the greatest military commanders to have ever lived, and unlike many German commanders, he nor those under his command where ever accused of war crimes. He refused and defied orders to kill any Jews he encountered, and any POW?s where treated well.

Oh, and he was involved in the July 20 plot against Hitler.

I?d give blood to him.


EDIT: * To clarify, despite Rommel being a figure worthy of respect and praise, this is an advertising blunder.
EDIT EDIT: Come to think of it, this whole campeign by Sony is a blunder.

 

[HardRockSamurai]

SONY's advertising campaigns simply baffle me.

Those ads don't make me want to buy a PS3, or donate blood..........

..........they kinda make me want to hurl..........

 

[Gerazzi]

Who's the target audience?


BUT ANYWAY... I hope to god this is a case of lost in translation.

 

[pilouuuu]

I'm from Chile and I must say that I'm... annoyed... surprised? I can't express my exact feelings. But neither can Sony. What is this supposed to mean?

Was Sony Chile responsible for those terrible ads or did American or Japanese thought we chileans are so crazy? Whoever made those ads should be fired. Now I completely ruled out any possibility to buy a PS3 myself (yes, that's the effect you've got with that ads, Sony) and keep myself a proud Chilean PC player.

Please, people, don't get the feeling we chileans are the target group to those terrible unrespectful ads.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

That ad like nothing before makes me want to pick up a PS3. If it's hinting at a game where you get to play as Rommel...I'll sell the heart I'm apparently giving to Joan of Arc to play that. That you're that far in the game that the ads depict you being there to give that kind of aid bespeaks to me of deep immersion, real experience, and beautifully rendered scenes (though what's up with that skirt on that nurse...the hell is that?). First Sony's gonna steal the wife and kids I don't have to give me more time to game, and now they're letting me save Rommel.

If only there was a minigame where you and Patton get to have a chat and a tea...