PSP Ad Draws Charges of Racism

Lord Kano writes "The Guardian Unlimited is reporting that a new Sony ad for the upcoming white PSP has caused an uproar because of claims that it carries racist overtones. The ad depicts a white woman, clad all in white, grabbing the face of a black model in a dominating pose." From the article: "It's questionable whether the world is ready to explore themes of race and domination in the context of a videogame console ad. Although not as wilfully controversial as Benetton's infamous 'United Colours' campaign, many viewers will be unwilling or unable to decode the imagery until it becomes about two different colours of plastic." What do you think about this latest in a long line of PSP ads of questionable taste?

Yep, Racist America

Importantly perhaps, the ads are for the European release of the white PSP and are appearing on billboards in Amsterdam rather than in the US where racial tension remains a fraught issue.

So if an ad has racist tones it's ok for a company to post it in a country that doesn't have racial problems? I wouldn't really appreciate a company that does that.

I like how a Keith Stuart (a games blogger from the UK Guardian) can comment on the state of racial tension in two countries he doesn't live in.

In America, it's called "racism." In Europe, it's just people trying to protect their culture. To me, it's called "ignorance." Ignorance is everywhere no matter how hard we try to eradicate it.

America's quick to cry foul play because of our recent history, yes. It's seen as very important to be equal opportunity here. Do I walk down the street and feel conscience of other people's skin color? No. Some people in America still might but it's only due to their ignorance. I've only seen someone oppressed once because of their skin color and it was because I was in Alabama for a wedding and my Indian friend was rubbing someone wrong at a bar.

Why is Turkey having a hard time joining the EU? Hmmmm? One of the reasons cited is fear of mass immigration to the UK or Germany for work. There have already been two waves to Germany that upset the locals [wsws.org].

Re:Yep, Racist America

What the heck are you going on about?! ...

The ad isn't racist, nor are the people looking at it. The ONLY people that seem to be racist are the hyper-sensitive Americans looking at the ad and applying their own screwed up values to it.

The above comment is a perfect example of that.

Re:Yep, Racist America

I agree. If you think about racism, you'll find the ad. racist. If you don't give a damn about skin color, the ad is just the representation of PSP colors.

Re:Yep, Racist America

I agree. If you think about racism, you'll find the ad. racist. If you don't give a damn about skin color, the ad is just the representation of PSP colors.

I believe you are correct, but I don't agree with what you were getting at.

I lot of people have to think about racism, whether they want to or not. So they are going to be more sensitive about stuff like that. If you live your life in a place where there is no, or little racism. The ad probably won't offend you.

But if racism is something you have to deal with on occasion, then you will be on your guard, and sometimes over react.

Re:Yep, Racist America

I have bad news.

People in the United States, particularly in certain parts of the United States, have to think about racism even if they are not themselves racists. A lot of people act as though racism is a thing of the distant past, simply because slavery was outlawed so long ago. But parts of this country still had institutionalized racism not forty years ago. People who experienced that are still alive, and their children certainly know all about it, and they still feel the effects economically, socially, and emotionally. And of course, there's still a marginal but not insignificant number of racists floating around, poking at wounds that haven't had time to heal yet; and there are people who exploit and exacerbate that emotion in order to gain and hold power within their community.

Some people will tell you that everyone needs to just get over it, that whites need not apologize for the actions of their ancestors or walk on eggshells to avoid giving offense. Those people don't get it. It's not over yet, not by a long shot. It's going to take a few generations for the emotional aspects of the memory to fade, and probably longer to right the social and economic wrongs that were done. In the meantime, a certain degree of sensitivity can only help.

So when some of us look at an advertisement that depicts a white person subjugating a black person, it's not so much a question of the ad itself being racist. In the context of its intent, it is clearly not. In the greater context of the time and society from which some of us observe that ad, its connotations are abrasive. Does this mean the ad in question is inappropriate? Not necessarily. It didn't run in the United States. Maybe in the Netherlands the social context is different, and those abrasive connotations are simply not there. I certainly hope that is the case. Regardless, your accusation of racism on (for instance) my part is misplaced.

Re:Yep, Racist America

I agree. If you think about racism, you'll find the ad. racist. If you don't give a damn about skin color, the ad is just the representation of PSP colors.

You're not black, are you?

Neither am I for the record, but I grew up in the American south, where (gasp!) white people gathered together still occasionally and breathily refer to blacks as ni**er, spook, spade, and lots of other extremely creative names.

During my time in Baton Rouge this year, I overheard (in racist hotspots like Outback steakhouse and a Shell gas station on the Interstate) wonderful things like "too bad so many of them got out of New Orleans - now they're stinking up Baton Rouge" and "If a hurricane hits the Baton Rouge this year, does that mean all the [blacks] will go back to New Orleans?

In light of the fact that yes, people actually still think this way, and that Son'y ads portray black and white models fighting simply because they are black and white , then I think it's justified to criticize this ad campaign, and heavily.

Hate groups and extremists like Michelle Malkin love to pretend that pointing out racism is racist in itself - because, the argument goes - "you must have racist tendencies to recognize them in others' speech or behavior".

Ask yourself how much sense that makes. Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A racist because he tried to eliminate racism against blacks? Is the Southern Poverty Law Center racist because it seeks out racists and discriminatory behavior?

Pointing out the obvious domination/submission aspects of an ad that highlights two races historically embroiled in conflict over race itself is not racist. And pointing out Sony's extremely stupid "piss everyone off with spray paint ads and white/black fighting" is elementary.

Re:Yep, Racist America

The ONLY people that seem to be racist are the hyper-sensitive Americans looking at the ad and applying their own screwed up values to it.

We ALMOST saw her nipple. Gee, that was a close call. I don't think American tribunals would have survived a racism porn trials wave.

Re:Yep, Racist America

I haven't read the article but last time I checked Europe is not immune to racism...except they put a shiny veneer on it and call it "hooliganism". No fan would get away with throwing bananas on a baseball field or football field; FIFA had to the use the threat of penality points being awarded to prevent ramapant nationalism.

Racism, as the parent states, is an issue of ignorance and no country is immune.

Re:Yep, Racist America

The Dutch don't have racial problems?
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pag ename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1 150927809973&call_pageid=968256290204&col=96835011 6795 [thestar.com]

Really?
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?su bchannel_id=19&story_id=30545&name=One+in+10+Dutch +people+are+racist%3A+poll [expatica.com]

REALLY!?!?!?!?!?
http://www.antislavery.org/breakingthesilence/slav e_routes/slave_routes_netherlands.shtm [antislavery.org]

Apparently to most of my fellow Americans, Holland is just a magical place filled with Pot, wooden shoes, dikes (Is levy the new PC word?) and Windmills.

Re:Yep, Racist America

"How does ignoring the color of someones skin make me a fool? Seriously, the reply to this should be priceless..."

Because there are cultural differences between races of people. Instead of taking a Pollyanna view that we're all the same, understand that a person's race does affect how they see the world and their place in it.

Great marketing tactic

All they had to do was buy one billboard, now everyone in America knows about the racist ad, oh and they know about the white psp too. These guys really know how to get the bang for the buck in advertising.

Re:Great marketing tactic

I had no idea either. I was too busy oppressing the black man, and getting my KKK outfit from the cleaners. Now I can really oppress the black man, by buying a white psp. What you gonna do now, nigga!

Re:Great marketing tactic

First slavery, now a white PSP!

For what it's worth, I respect the fact that there is racism in the world, but some battles are not worth fighting. I do not think that this ad campaign is going to make people suddenly think less of blacks.

Re:Great marketing tactic

...if I buy a PSP it will have to be white.

RACIST!!!

Re:Great marketing tactic

...now everyone in America knows about the racist ad...

The Guardian piece emphasizes some nebulous connection to "the US videogaming community", but this is a Dutch campaign and the ads are limited to the Netherlands. No way would a campaign like this be run in the US.

Re:Great marketing tactic

Yes but here I am in the USA and now I've seen the ad and know that white PSPs are on the horizon.
Sony reached this American, plus a number of others I'm sure, and didn't spend a cent.

I beleive that is the point the GPP is trying to make.

One ad of three

Jeebus. There are three ads:

  * White woman over black woman.
  * Black woman over white woman.
  * White woman and black woman on equal footing.

Everyone can't stop talking about the first and ignoring the others. And what are they ignoring the most? They're all hot.

Re:One ad of three

As a followup, here are some links taken from the Fark discussion yesterday:

equal [photobucket.com]
white over [photobucket.com]
black over [photobucket.com]

Re:One ad of three

Even without racism, the ads have too much violence and aggression.

They should put out one final ad where the two models kiss and make up.

Re:One ad of three

Hell, I admit, even I'm not immune. Talk of lawyers sets me off.

Sorry, couldn't resist :-P

Did you make a donation?
At the United Way in a fairly small town a volunteer worker noticed that the most successful lawyer in the whole town hadn't made a contribution. This guy was making about $600,000 a year so the volunteer thought, "Why not call him up?"

He calls up the lawyer.

"Sir, according to our research you haven't made a contribution to the United Way, would you like to do so?"

The lawyer responds, "A contribution? Does your research show that I have an invalid mother who requires expensive surgery once a year just to stay alive?"

The worker is feeling a bit embarrassed and says, "Well, no sir, I'm..."

"Does your research show that my sister's husband was killed in a car accident? She has three kids and no means of support!"

The worker is feeling quite embarrassed at this point. "I'm terribly sorry..."

"Does your research show that my brother broke his neck on the job and now requires a full time nurse to have any kind of normal life?"

The worker is completely humiliated at this point. "I am sorry sir, please forgive me..."

"The gall of you people! I don't give them anything, so why should I give it to you!"

Re:One ad of three

Black woman over white woman?
RACISM!
Oh wait, it's only racism if it's the other way around.

Slavery

Black woman over white woman? RACISM! Oh wait, it's only racism if it's the other way around.

That's because black people haven't used white people as SLAVES. It's not about racism per-se, it's evoking the memory of slavery and humilliation of black people in the past centuries.

Re:Slavery

If they had the chance, the blacks would have enslaved the whites. In fact, in Africa, blacks enslaved other blacks.

Race-neutral whites today have nothing to feel guilty about. Only a fool liberal goes around apologizing for his ancestors.

Re:Slavery

There's a point at which we're keeping the wound from healing because we keep picking at the scab every time it itches.

As long as we let slavery control our thinking in any way by doing things like playing the slave card every time a racial issue comes up, we'll never escape its legacy. You can keep evoking the memory of slavery in your own mind all you want - and I hope you have fun dwelling in the ugly past. If you need me I'll be in the better future.

Re:Slavery

Indeed. I personally have never had any slaves or treated anyone differently because of their race. I'll certainly not be held accountable for something terrible which I could have in no way prevented (because it happened before I was born).

Re:Slavery

As long as we let slavery control our thinking in any way by doing things like playing the slave card every time a racial issue comes up, we'll never escape its legacy.

Some of us don't want to escape the legacy of slavery; we want to end it. And that can't be done by suppressing the memory. The only way is to constantly keep bringing it up, until humanity institutes some way of finally ending it. So far, there is little sign of this happening, so we still need frequent reminders.

There is slavery all over the world right now, including in the US. Just passing laws and saying we've solved the problem simply hasn't worked; it only drives such things underground. And when we're not watching, someone reinvents slavery under some new name. If we are serious about wanting to end such practices, we should be exposing and publicizing all the instances we can find.

Of course, this particular ad campaign is a bit of a silly example. But it does tell us that a lot of people are aware of the history and are sensitive to the topic. To anyone seriously interested in ending such atrocities, this is a good sign. And that we can laugh at it while being appalled is also a good sign.

Re:Slavery

Actually the funny part about this is that people on the continent of africa did infact enslave whites. It just happened a REEEEAAAALLLLYYY long time ago. Blacks still to this day enslave other blacks, asians other asians etc etc I think it has far more to do with economic circumstance than one race being more superior than another.In reality people use slavery has a crutch, my people were dirt poor when they came to this country just like most immagrants. I think pop-culture has built up the idea that black people were treated sub human and all white people were wearing silk and such. Which is crap. There are many instances where people in this country and europe were treated horribly because of their country of origin (white or not).

US Diversity is not present where it counts.

"Honestly, look at how racial diversity is crammed into everything. You almost never see an advertisement that doesn't include a black person or an asian person right up there with white people."

Let's see here:
  - How many female, non white in congress ?
  - Any female or non white President yet ? don't think so.
  - How many fortune 500 CEOs are female or nonwhite ?
  - How many major metropolitan media are owned by female, nonwhites ?
  - How many females in the Supreme court ? or lower court?
  - How many nonwhites is anchoring for a major news network?

Stop belly aching - racial attitudes are real and still persists.
They are perhaps not overt, but still present.

Check out the site below for some glass ceiling charts based on EEOC data:
    http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/glasscei ling.html [80-20educa...dation.org]

Travel to a country like Brazil where centuries of mixing have
produced a wide range of skin colour and you will feel a very different
attitude. It's not better, just different.

Re:One ad of three

I wouldn't call the 1960s a long time ago, There are still plenty of people alive now who were alive then.

But I agree. They need to make a distinction between real racism and just racial differences. Black people have black skin and white people have white skin. No amount of magical anti-racism laws will change that. The ads aren't racist at all. The point of using a black and white woman was to show the difference between the black and white PSP, not slavery roles! They probably made sure they used women just for the purpose of trying to prevent that imagery from showing up (since of course it is the Man who was the slave and slaveowner). Does that make it sexist?

As for affirmative action, I put that into the "Do you want EQUAL rights or EXTRA rights?" I lump woman's rights into the same thing. really any group that thinks they aren't being treated fairly. There should not be a law for any group giving them MORE rights than others, just laws preventing their rights from being taken. Quotas and scholarships for minorities are really just punishing the student who does not have the "advantage" of being a minority as well as putting the school or workplace at a disadvantage by requiring them to hire/accept based on race and not qualifications (If you are required to hire 10% minorities, what of only 5% of your qualified applicants are minority?) Race should be IGNORED in the application process, not corrected for.

Get a clue

In the town of Elsemere, Delaware, a local politician named John Jaremchuk recently proposed (local ordinance 447) that brown people (specifically, people of hispanic appearance) be required to carry papers proving citizenship, and that anyone (regardless of actual citizenship status) who could not produce such papers would be fined $100.

My daughter looks hispanic (though she's not) and she doesn't even *HAVE* citizenship papers. Neither do I, but I'm pasty white, so I get to go anywhere I want without question.

The proposal was defeated, but Jaremchuk has considerable local support... especially among the police and the anti-hispanic vigilante types who like to cause trouble in the low-end housing where there's a high percentage of illegal aliens... Jaremchuk is a rising star in Elsmere politics, and his entire platform is thinly veiled, weasel-worded white supremacy (he'd probably say "traditional cultural values" and "equality").

Elsmere also has the distinction of having the strongest curfew laws on the East Coast, but the curfew is only enforced on brown kids, as far as I've seen. We live less than ten miles from Elsmere, which is NOT below the Mason Dixon line - this is the industrial northeast of the USA here.

If you think color-line racism isn't alive and growing in America, you are living a very sheltered life. The 9/11 atrocities have proved the perfect wedge to drive racial profiling back into the mainstream of acceptability; in fact Ordinance 447 mentioned 9/11 specifically as justification.

Re:As an ad, it's working beautifully.

> the success of an add is whether or not it propts you do buy the product

Ad success is partially determined by whether it sticks in your head or not. Oftentimes it's too hard to determine if a particular ad resulted in a sale. This is because there's a time lag between when you see the ad and when you purchase. So they usually measure ad effectiveness by your ability to recall the ad after varying periods of time. So if you remember the ad two weeks from now, then they'll call it a success.

However, the ultimate purpose of all advertisements is to make you have a favorable attitude towards a product or service. So a particular advertisement, even if it's offensive, can be a success if it gets your attention, but you eventually forget about the offensive ad but remember the product in a good way.

However, it's been found that if you don't like an ad, you will associate negative feelings towards the product. Thus, there is such a thing as bad publicity.

The other spots put the ad in context, but I suspect they were created just for the purpose of having plausible deniability -- "Hey, we're not being racist! Look at the other spots [that you wouldn't have noticed before if we hadn't had the offensive version shown first]". However, I don't their intention was to be racist, but rather to be controversial (like the old Benetton ads). Sony was hoping to get tons of inevitable publicity from a racist ad, but they had the other two produced to shield themselves from the inevitable fall out.

It's important to remember that any major corporation (or political entity, for that matter) carefully scrutinizes every single element that goes into an ad photo. They hire psychologists for the sole purpose of this.

Like the old Simpsons episode, if you want advertisements to go away, stop paying attention. Just don't look.

You Americans Need to Lighten up

One, it isn't in the US. 2 you need to lighten up, sure racism exists, but its a video game advert and guess what, in another on it shows the black person on top of the white... I don't see what the big deal is personally, but I guess that is how I was raised, with quite a few good friends who are of different races. Check out The CAD newspose [ctrlaltdel-online.com] for an insightful post on the subject, as well as the pictures of the different ones, including prior art for a DS :P

Disclaimer: I am Canadian from a small border town near Niagara Falls.

Re:You Americans Need to Lighten up

Well, as an American born and raised to 8 in Illinois, grew up to 15 in Texas, and attended college in Ohio (Cinninati race riots POV.) I can tell you that where you live makes a huge difference in your perceptions of racism. Personally, I don't think we should lighten up; you should get serious. Racism does not occure in a vacuum; it's like a coal fire of hatred in the hearts of men (and women.) Some of the smallest sparks can smoulder for years after it seems to be put out and the more embers you pile on; the greater the chance to rekindle the violent flames of hatred.

There may be more than one image to this campaign, but it doesn't matter which is being percieved; the message is the same: White vs. Black (on the PSP) and I for one don't like it one bit.

Get over it!

If the media would stop magnifying everything different between blacks and white, then this crap wouldn't be perpetuated. Black, white, who gives a shit. Just enjoy the ad for what it is... it's cool. I don't believe that the creators want to string up blacks and start slavery. This is just ridiculous. Move on with your lives people.

http://religiousfreaks.com/ [religiousfreaks.com]

Re:Get over it!

The media is run by people and people are affected by their own bias. Somebody with no previous knowledge of racism would not think that this ad is promoting white supremacy in any way (especially after they see the other ads).

People looking for racist overtones will see them everywhere. A black co-worker at my last job complained about police racism everytime he got pulled over (not wearing a seatbelt, speeding, drunk driving, etc) even though he deserved to be stopped. He was convinced that the reason he was stopped so often was because he was black while I have never been stopped because I am white. Nevermind the fact that he was a terrible driver who regularly broke traffic laws.

In the case of the Sony ads people are seeing one instance of a white woman being agressive towards a black woman and assuming there is deep anti-black meaning behind it. Really, Sony's ad firm was trying to create a black vs. white ad campaign about the color of the PSP and used white and black people to help convey that message.

The real racists are the people who continually add to the problem by accusing people and companies of racism. They're the ones who can't handle the fact that people come in different colors and that those colors can be used for visual effect in movies, tv and ads. (Just look at how Snipes' black skin and clothes are used in Blade).

You think this is bad?

Have a look at Nintendo's work: http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/images/news/ds_ad .jpg [ctrlaltdel-online.com]
Seriously though, I think Tim's article on the whole issue covered this pretty well (currently on the front page of CAD).

Any publicity is good publicity

I'm sure Sony know's what it's doing. Get people talking about the PSP, doesn't it? Besides, how many people aren't going to buy a PSP because they're offended by this? I highly doubt the thin-skinned politically correct crowd is much into gaming anyway. Still, I'm not sure what the appeal of a white handheld is. I'd be much more inclined to buy the black version if it was the same price. I don't know why, but I find black a much more asthetically pleasing color for my hardware than silver or white.

Don't really see it

Yes, it deliberately uses the contrast of the women's races as a metaphor for the difference between the available colours of the PSP. And yes, the white woman is acting aggressively towards the black woman.

But acknowledging their races, even pointing it out deliberately and using it as a marketing gimmick, is a long way from racism. It's not as if people are supposed to walk away from that ad thinking that the white PSP is better because it's associated with white people. It's not using stereotypes or ridiculing the black woman in any way. It's just saying "hey, here comes the white PSP and it's going to take the world by storm, and here's a picture to grab your attention". With, of course, the added bonus that it gets lots of media attention for causing controversy.

Not everything involving race is racist. Too many people forget this and seem to want to make race a taboo subject. That's ignorant in itself.

facinates me

This ties in with a discussion I had with a friend recently (you know a discussion is going to be interesting when it starts with the question "do you have any interest in BDSM?"). Anyway....

I think the racisim here is in the minds of the watchers. Would this be racist if it was a black woman and a white man? Would it then be sexist if it was a white man grabbing a white woman? In a full on dom/sub relationship it makes sense for the sub to do the dishes and house work and other such things, so if the sub is a woman, that fits with the "standard sexist gender roles" right? What about a master slave relationship? Is it somehow bad for a black woman to want to be the slave to a white master?

Whats worst, a black person being a willing slave to a white person, or trying to tell that same black person what they can and can't do in the confines of their life and sexuality?

This is all silly. The knee-jerk racism reaction is ridiculous. Isn't the whole goal of tolerance and antiracism to teach us to see people as people rather than black people and white people? Black people have as much right to be submissive as a white person if thats what they want!

-Steve

Re:Leeland Yee said it...best?

I'm from the Netherlands and I'm not too happy some Californian assembly speaker is judging our culture with his prejudices. I doubt many of my fellow Dutch citizens would consider the ad racist, including my non-white fellow citizens, so he's basically stirring up a racial issue where there is none.

Let's look a little more critically at the world.

In a world without history, this ad would be meaningless. But we live in the real world, that has a bloody history of slavery, apartheid, jim crow, fascism, and colonialism.

And as such, this ad is incredibly problematic. Anybody who doesn't recognize at least that is ignoring history itself.

What do I think

What do you think about this latest in a long line of PSP ads of questionable taste?

I think thousands of people now know PSP is coming in white... mission accomplished. If you don't like the ad, don't talk about it.

yep, uh-hu, [nods politely] ...

Um let's look at this one....
Current PSP comes in black only....
New white PSP is coming out....
Sex sells .....
Attitude sells ...
Lets mix black, white, sex, and attitude in one commercial ...
Instant racism. Now that's synergy of ideas working for you.

Racist? How about stupid?

Am I the only one who thinks the ad is just plain stupid looking? I don't get how that conveys "white PSPs are coming". Mostly it just looks like some bad soft-BDSM.

Tom

trolling comes to ads

I'm not saying that this should be censored. It shouldn't.

But this feels like trolling -- deliberately saying or doing something controversial, to draw attention. And trolling is lame.

If they choose to open this door -- to associate an electronic device that has nothing to do with race with all of this ugly history, just to be titilating -- then they deserve whatever they get.

Looks like a pink woman and a brown woman to me

Is it sexist that the don't make a pink version, or is that homophobic today?

Would it be more or less racist to deny the brown woman her right to choose to be paid to appear in the ad?

Should I be boycotting both versions of the PSP, because I'm a nudist and I fnd the clothing in the ads offensive? ...Or is all this a big fuss over nothing, and a lot of free advertising for Sony?

Ctrl-Alt-Del comic

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/?t=archives&date= 2005-02-05#1153 [ctrlaltdel-online.com] Tim Absath says it quite well, here's an excert:

No one is offended that the billboard suggests a precursor to violence. No one is offended that it's two women involved in violence. If it had been two white women, one in a white suit, one in a black suit, nobody would say a thing. Furthermore, nobody has said word one about the version of the ad where the black woman is dominating the white woman. And I'm willing to bet that if that image had been on the billboard instead, nobody would have said a thing. At least not publicly. So ask yourself, honestly, why it's offensive to you. Because the billboard doesn't depict slavery. Not in the slightest. If the black woman was picking cotton, and the white woman was standing over her with a whip, then hell yes it would be offensive. But it's just two people squaring off, and one of them has the upper hand. So why does it matter to you which one that is? Because if we really want to reach the level of equality in our society that we all say we do, we need to stop dwelling on the past. Slavery is abolished. Has been for a good long time. Not a single one of us Americans owned slaves, or was a slave. It was a horrible period in time, but it's over. Being oversensitive about things like this billboard is what's keeping this racial tension alive. If you ask yourself honestly, you may find that you don't actually think the billboard is offensive, but that you've just been taught it's offensive. Stop making race a big deal, and race stops being a big deal.

I repeat: "Stop making race a big deal, and race stops being a big deal."

It's racist, but good marketing.

They are linking the colours of the PSP to race therefore it's technically racist; equally regarding both skin colours involved (see how I got my point across without using the W or B words?).

Sony will obviously be aware of this, which is why they have done it. The simple fact is that I have seen that advert now, which has made me think about a PSP and the fact there must be a white model coming (meaning there must be a black model already out) and I would probably never have seen that advert.

It's called 'marketing'.

To address some points

Is the ad potentially racist?

yes.

However racism depends on sevreal factors for recognition, to someone insulated or otherwise un-exposed to a diversity of cultures on a personal and frequent basis such an ad would be unlikely to convey any racist undertones to them.

Racism greatly depends upon historical perspective. Without a history of oppression or ill-will surrounding race semi-fresh in the minds of the viewers it would be very difficult for any given imagery or prose to evoke such a moniker.

However, in the ad we have a white woman all decked out in white mencing a black woman in black, attached with "white is comming" as a slogan. Intentional or not, satire or not, literal or not, product advertising or not... it carries obvious racial unertones.. even if its creators have no recist intentions, it is almost blatantly made in a manner delibratly based upon racial issues or at the minimum a HUGE leap of total ingnorance to the world we live in.

Of course the intentions are all the more obvious by the markets they have decided to place it in, as the non-US release clearly indicates they knew just how the US (with a much more diverse population, and more open race relations issues) would react.

Bottom line is, the ad puts a black person in a position of total infiriority to a white person, with a tag line that emphasizes that aspect.

Its inflamatory at best.

As a note of intrest there are the other two images, which "balence it out"...
    * White woman over black woman.
    * Black woman over white woman.
    * White woman and black woman on equal footing

But of course this is pointless, the other two images have little to no relevancy in the worlds current climate of race relations. (of course if we had a succeeding couple hundred years of black oppression of the masses, and subsequent social revolution... the situation would likely be just as inflamatory in the opposite direction).

The real issue here, is such an advert reinforces negative stereotypes and relationships in our still healing society. While subtle it would serve to influence our children giving them (children of all races) cause to somehow believe just a "tiny" bit more in white supiriority, seeding racists, low self esteem, etc...

Until the rifts between under-represented and marginalized minorities and the power wielding majority (still overwhelmingly white - and largely male) are diminished, such forms of "advertising" will remain bad mojo.