Ad watchdog rules on PSP ads

By Ellie Gibson Published 21 June, 2006

Says they're all right really.

The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a recent PSP poster campaign wasn't all that naughty despite receiving 45 complaints, and that Sony shouldn't be punished as a result.

The posters in question featured red text on a white background, with slogans including "Strong language and scenes of a sexual nature here". Some complainants argued that the slogan was offensive and unsuitable for children, and objected to the fact that some posters appeared near schools and churches.

Others said that the line "Your girlfriend's white bits here" encouraged the objectification of women, and one complainant reckoned the poster could encourage younger PSP owners to take and store indecent photos of other children.

Another suggested the "Take a running jump" tagline was irresponsible as it could encourage people to jump near traffic, and one complainant found "Saucy emails won't get you fired here" to be offensive.

In its defence, as detailed on the ASA website, ad agency TBWA/London said that each poster was designed to inform consumers about the PSP's multimedia functions.

TBWA argued that the ads were intended to be humourous and irreverent rather than offensive, adding that each poster featured "deliberately chosen language that maintained levels of taste and decency in all cases."

The ASA agreed that the ads did not contain any explicit language or images likely to cause widespread offence or harm to children. It was also noted that Sony took immediate action to remove the "Take a running jump" poster from tram and train stations after staff expressed safety concerns, and that the poster was unlikely to persuade people to jump near traffic. Tell that to our broken legs.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • yiannis #1 6 years ago

    I guess these were made with the sex hungry, hardcore, adventurous type/bloke in mind that sony seams to adress quite often with its PS ads.

  • kangarootoo #2 6 years ago

    I think whether the campaign was irresponsible or not does not detract from the fact that it was also a bit crap.

  • skillian #3 6 years ago

    But it is a bloke-ish activity :/

    It's like complaining shampoo ads are too girly - sure, there might be men that use the products, but you have to appeal to your major market.

    As an aside, who are these people that complain that the slogan "Take a running jump" will encourage kids to jump into traffic? Seriously, get a grip.

  • NoQuarter #4 6 years ago

    RE: skillian

    "As an aside, who are these people that complain that the slogan "Take a running jump" will encourage kids to jump into traffic? Seriously, get a grip."

    Nintendo fanboys?

    I kid, I kid!

  • SeesThroughAll #5 6 years ago

    As an aside, who are these people that complain that the slogan "Take a running jump" will encourage kids to jump into traffic? Seriously, get a grip.

    Jack Thompson?

  • asphaltcowboy #6 6 years ago

    "...was irresponsible as it could encourage people to jump near traffic..."

    lmfao!

  • kangarootoo #7 6 years ago

    @skillian

    "But it is a bloke-ish activity :/"

    Currently it is, but thereare two ways to go on this.

    1. Appeal only to your current market, fighting for increasingly smaller chunks of market share with everyone else.

    2. Appeal to a new market and clean up.

    The fortunes of Maxis are proof if proof be needed that you can make a shit load more cash appealing to the non-standard demographic. Just as I'm sure that the first company that brought out a shampoo aimed at men made a furtune before everyone else caught up.

    18-30 blokes will always be the main gamer market if no-one bothers to try and attract anyone else. I know which way I would like to work (if only for the sake of my gas bill).

  • swede #8 6 years ago

    They done a great image of the month section in way of the rodent ( http://ww w.wayoftherodent.com/bonus/IotM... ) a few months back - another great online mag imho

    My personal favourite - squinting on the shitter....
    Edited by 1 at 21/06/06 @ 14:16

  • Azazel #9 6 years ago

    Are these the same people who write in to points of view?

    because I am a happy responsible consumer and I am concerned about what I consume and I am concerned about what my children consume and i'd like to consume both barrels of a 12 inch shotgun
    Edited by 1 at 21/06/06 @ 14:49

  • Gurgeh #10 6 years ago

    This judgement on Sony (re: the PS2 is a computer not a console tax dodge) is much more fun:

    Lord Justice Chadwick also took issue with "the manner in which Sony's case has been presented to the Court," for various reasons. "The skeleton argument filed in this Court on behalf of Sony goes beyond what can be regarded as acceptable written advocacy: it exceeds the bounds of propriety," wrote Chadwick. "I am not here protesting about its inordinate length, nor about its discursive quality, nor about its frequent and unnecessary resort to hyperbole; although all those unappealing features are present. My concern is with the repeated aspersions that are cast in that document on the intellectual honesty of the High Court Judge from whose decision this appeal is brought."

  • ManicDrunkMonk #11 6 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Stop being such a big girl's blouse!

  • Stormflood #12 6 years ago

    It was a shit campaign and made no sense to me.

    It wasn't cool, funny or intellectual. Nor was it offensive, and I'm quite surprised it even made it as far as being controversial.

    I can only imagine the 'running jump' ad on the tube upset anyone.

  • Hughes. #13 6 years ago

    Ellie's legs, that poster is unlikely to persuade people to jump near traffic.

  • Freek #14 6 years ago

    Inuendo is not strong language, so obivously the complaints had no case.

  • Fozzie_bear #15 6 years ago

    The ads just seemed a bit crap to me. I could see what they were getting at but they weren't clever and they weren't funny. Also - given that you wouldn't have a clue what they meant if you didn't already know about the psp i suppose they pretty much failed as adverts too.

    Got to pity the sad creatures who complained though. Is there anything which some idiot somehwere won't find 'offensive'? What the hell is 'offensive' about a reference to saucy emails anyway? It's pathetic.

    Another suggested the "Take a running jump" tagline was irresponsible as it could encourage people to jump near traffic

    Quite frankly, anyone who would be encouraged to jump into the traffic or off a tube platform because they saw a poster deserves to get run over by a bus or train. Seriously. If you're that feeble minded you're not going to last long anyway. Best get it over and done with and spare the rest of us from having to share a planet with you any longer.

  • yiannis #16 6 years ago

    "It was a shit campaign and made no sense to me. "

    and the only way to catch up would be to create a fuss stating how bold sony is :)
    naughty sony... (bleh)