Tech Shout!

Sony is one controversial company. Not only has it been pulled up for depicting a church together with violence in one of its games, but now the company has been forced to pull one of its Internet ads in the UK following a warning.

Sony’s latest PlayStation 3 commercial has been branded as too controversial in the UK. A warning has also been issued by the Advertising Standards Authority to pull off its ad from the Internet.

So what exactly is the new PS3 ad all about, and what’s so controversial about it? The ad, which happens to be shown on Yahoo’s much-viewed UK site, features a bald man named ‘Kovac’ sitting in a bathtub. Okay, you must be wondering if this ad contains some form of nudity. Well, it doesn’t.

On the contrary ‘Kovac’ is not only sitting in a bathtub, but he’s also holding a knife and a gun.

The following text is then displayed: “You on my side? Listen up I’ve killed for less. The music plays Puccini in my head.” This text is displayed over a shot of Kovac pointing the gun at the bathroom roof. The following text is also displayed on the screen: “Kovac, mercenary or misunderstood?”. After this, the “This is Living” PlayStation 3 slogan is displayed.

Very cryptic, we must say! This ad sure does fit the cryptic style of other PS3 commercials that had loads of people scratching their heads in oblivion.

This is where the ASA comes in. They have branded the PS3 ad as unacceptable. They forced Sony to remove this ad because of the ‘potential’ violence that this ad depicts.

Now the makers of the ad, TBWA tried to defend its creation by stating that the ad was only meant to be seen by an adult audience.

Yahoo further backed their story by adding that the commercial would only be seen by registered users who were obviously over the age of 18 years.

The result of all the pleas was that it turned out to be in vain, because the ASA was not at all persuaded. The ASA stood by its decision

The ASA stated that the main problem with the ad was that: “there was an underlying tone of violence in the ad and we were concerned that the images of Kovac holding the knife and the gun, in conjunction with the text, ‘You on my side? Listen up I’ve killed for less…” could be seen to glamorize violence or anti-social behavior.”

The ad no longer exists on the Internet, so we couldn’t put it up for you to see. Sony should indeed by careful not to release another controversial ad or even a game that irks the sentiments of others.