Yep, that Sony ad campaign was just wrong.

Touche.....Both bad but not as bad as what this might be built up to be. In the marketing world things like this are normal. I actually liked the psp add as there is a distinct lack of dark skinned black people on adds outside of Africa and parts of NA...the suggestiveness of the add didn't faze me personally BUT i could see why it was still wrong for many and a dumb move by sony. If people really want something to hate they should check out Loreals antics....they have a long ass rap sheet

Im not condoning any of these adds or practices but poland is not the most hospitable race towards blacks (personal experience) and MS are probably apologising because they got caught

@ Cold 2000

Im also a black man and i do see/recognise the symbolism so dont get me wrong. I liked the psp add because of its look, the colours its was wrong YES ive said that but the 'Cant read' joke in transformers pissed me off more. And its human nature to like things we shouldnt...dont judge me for being honest.

Microsoft throwing standards out the window again? what a shocker.

You actually like that PSP ad ??

Geez I dont see how any normal person with a minimum of respect for black people can say that.

Do you understand what that ad symbolizes ?

Im a black man, Im not shocked with this MS ad though I think it was a poor thing to do it do it the way they did but that Sony as is straight out and utter disrespect for any black person.

My point was to show that Sony or MS, both are just as bad.

I dont like the "Sony is sugar and spice and everything nice" and "MS is the devil" atmosphere on N4G.

edit: @the wood: ok man, sorry I got u wrong.

Yes, because we all know they are many blacks in Poland.. maybe the people they were trying to target in the add don't really relate to meetings with black men. Anyone thought of that?

explain what that ad symbolizes. Please let me know.

Have you never been to history class ? Have you never opened your eyes and seen whats goes on everyday on this planet ?

Im going to assume youre actually honest when u ask me dat...

Slavery ? Apartheid ? Colonialism ? White supremacy ?...Im not going to do a whole list...

I could do 30 paragraphs if I wanted to, but everyone is intelligent enough to see and understand what that PSP ad symbolizes.

edit: @heroic janitor : You are VERY naive if u think that. Not going to bother explaining why I disagree with u.

The MS thing used photoshop to show a white person, but sadly they needed to do it in a place like poland, although they could've just used a white person.

I wish we could see an ad like the psp ad without people thinking of white supremacy, but I suppose we can't.

Edit: Had to change it :( Was expecting a ridiculous amount of hate for it, lol it's getting boring... need.. ps3 ..hate

i hope you're joking.....

@ Jsonhenry

Its kinda like that. Wrong but its kinda like that. There are blacks in poland though so changing the face wasnt really needed unless the peeps at MS felt it would give them a bad image and that in itself is a long topic

@heroicjanitor

sorry mate but people can feel and see different things. I can see what it maybe suggesting but im not bothered whereas others may be bothered. Some people just cant see it full stop. I just like the add because of its composition and feel BUT i can see what it suggests even on a subconscious level

You changed ur post :(

'I wish we could see an ad like the psp ad without people thinking of white supremacy, but I suppose we can't.'

its sad sometimes BUT I also wish people wouldnt think that all black people feel the same about things. If it was a a man holding the face of a women then another group would be offended but not everybody would be. People like different things and too many of these x = racist things are being pinned on sensitive blacks when thats BS

....anyway time to look for a ps3 slim 'not worth it' article;)

Ok listen up.

1. Bad editing.

2. I really don't see this as racism at all. Think about it people.. If they were to make a campaign/add in Africa forexample it would almost be racism if the guys were white.. I guess that in Poland there are far to many white computer folks.. In USA there are many black people and is totally natural.. It is natural to replace the guy with a white person in this situation. The editing is just bad. No one would have noticed anything if the editing was done perfect..

3. The white guy seems more reliable and confident than the black man does in this situation. No really he does.. The black man seems more like "is this the right thing we are doing here man" with a friendly smile on his lips.. And there is no racism in any of what I have written nor in this attempt to edit the photo.. The guy they replaced could also have been white and not have had that touch to it they wanted..

Hope people understand :)

i forgot, its only racist to a black man. You still haven't told me what it symbolizes without being a racist yourself. And you want to use the word intelligent.

this site will never be organized. Beta 2.0

@InfectedDK
"The white guy seems more reliable and confident than the black man does in this situation. No really he does.. The black man seems more like "is this the right thing we are doing here man" with a friendly smile on his lips.. And there is no racism in any of what I have written nor in this attempt to edit the photo.. The guy they replaced could also have been white and not have had that touch to it they wanted."

Did you forget the sarcasm part or are you really that delusional? I wonder why they didn't replace the other two.....

The moment I saw this on the wire this morning I started the silent countdown as to when the N4G MS hate committee would have this posted.

1. Ad was changed for a demographic...plain and simple.

2. Poor judgement...sure. I would bet the decision to change it was done 5 min. prior going to print which would explain the lack of re-shoot and crappy photoshop job.

3. MS is a business marketing to the way society operates. For all those jumping on here acting all high and mighty...maybe you should quit wasting you time chucking virtual stones at virtual enemies to virtually inflate your corporate backed egos and go out and CHANGE THE WORLD AROUND YOU. Things like this will cease to exist when society quits acting in such a matter.

Ad campaigns are often hit or miss, and have to wait to be seen by the community for certain groups to be offended. They see them, and write letters, That happens daily. Im sure its happening right now. Some soccer mom is seeing some Herbal Essence commercial and writing a letter about it.

Deciding to remove a black person from your Business ad and doing a terrible job doing so isn't the same thing as picking a risky ad campaign that offends some people.

Its safe to say that way back in 2006, lol, that Sony wasn't going out of their way to offend anyone with an advertisement to buy their product, and not only that, they didn't remove the black person from their ad due to how they imagined it would be perceived.

Microsoft associated a black person with something that they didn't want on an AD, so they had him removed.Unlike the sony issue, Ms went out of their way to do something that would most definitely offend people if they found out, and people did.

Theres no way of spinning removing a black person from your ad. Which is why MS is looking for who is responsible for it. It looks bad on them, which is why they apologized for it, and not say "Its because there are no black polish people!!" Because there are.

Nice try though!

All the butthurt race baiters in here are downright annoying. I see absolutely nothing wrong with what they did. They changed an advertisement for a different region, last I heard there were next to no black people in Poland so putting a white dude there makes sense. Whats next you want black people in advertisements in Mexico ? in Argentina ?

Foolish idiots still butthurt over something so long ago get over it idiots it did not even affect you .

in most places in the world, whites are considered the "higher classed" race. This means that white is universally accepted most places.

Most other races don't get close to this recognition, but Asians are getting mighty close on the coast in the US.

It is sad, but just how it is. This is no different and just makes perfect business sense since you are trying to get the customer to relate to you!

F*** Microsoft's racist movements....

you are a waste of space. You encapsulate the crap end of xbl. This is a topic that has been brought up JUST like the psp one. Nobody was acting butthurt about anything out of the blue. Its a topic which means we 'discuss' Its people like you who probably believe all blacks are offended by everything negative that gets said about them....grow up and open your mind.

btw i agree about the localisation of adds its just your whole attitude/delivery is childish

@ InfectedDK below

I understood what you meant but ill admit i had to read it twice :)

@Endorphin Nope. YOU missunderstood the whole thing I wrote!
You see.. IT WAS NOT because he is black I..... >I< believe that the guy who is white looks more trusthworthy and reliable "in this situation".. It is because of his look which fits in, in this picture, not that he is white..! But the edit is bad.

Nevermind, some people will just see things with their own glasses ;)
Never gonna see the truth, living in weak understanding of things :)
Sorry for themselves.. Sorry.. Peace brothers

I'm actually an antiracist but you nevermind.

You can say a lot of things but calling them racists because of this bad edited photo is very very weak in my oppinion. But yes it looks very awful, the "photo".

Ohhhh Microsoft...

there shouldn't be pictures of black people anywhere as their existence is a myth.

Considering how the Nazis slaughtered Poles like pigs during WWII, I doubt, hope, it was not racist. Just a dumb decision by less sophisticated/experienced marketing staff. They probably just learned how to PhotoShop.

Since there aren't many if any blacks in Poland (they did not import slaves)discrimination probably never crossed their mind. If it was a Jew they blotted out, then we have a problem.

The only issue is the Asian, there aren't many Asians in Poland either and they left him. Ok, maybe it was racist. America has exported it's racism globally.

OK, who cares. Microsoft apologized and is looking into it, what more can you ask for in any case?

I think it's obvious the Sony ad was an attempt at art. The stark contrast between the white white, woman, and the black black woman. The existing PSP is black, the new one being advertised is Black. I think it's a well made ad, but given America's societal problems, I can see how some would be offended. The real problem isn't the Sony ad, it's American Society.

You know, I may have been inclined to agree with you, if I found something really wrong with that ad (which I don't really, though I could see how some might), if I didn't take a look at your post history. You are an obvious troll. You are in every thread that's "pro-PS3" making a big stink, and you're in every "anti-360" article defending Microsoft and the 360.

Here is an example:

1. A movie releasing in Poland with 3 persons, a chinese guy, a black man and a white Polish caucasian.. They then decide to switch the black man with a white man.. And it is soon in the media as racism.. Also it sounds as racism in manys ears right now..

But consider this:

2. A movie releasing in the United States with 3 persons where one girl is black and one man is white and the last one is chinese.. The white man gets switched with a black man.. NOBODY, again.. NOBODY but KKK sees this as racism.. The first thing people will think is that the person were better suited for the job! Bingo!

are ignorant. That doesn't make it ok, because there's more white people there, is no reason to censor the image of a black man, it's a racist idea to think even showing a black man in the picture is bad for sales, the point of having a black man, white man and an asian man is to show diversity and different types of people doing business with each other. Don't make excuses for them, they made a statement when they doctored that photo.

Seriously you 2 are probably the ones that thought resident evil 5 was a racist game. First off I think you guys are missing the whole ART behind sony's psp add. She is not grabbing him violently and he is not being choked or anything. They are making eye contact and sizing each other up.
As for Microsoft. IN THE BUSINESS there is only one color.... and that is green. DO YOU honestly think microsoft is racist??? I mean HONESTLY? IF not stop making something outa nothing.

What bout this one. It was vise versa for SONY

Check this version Out guys.

http://image.innealtoir.com...

They should hire the guy who made this... he seems to be a better photoshopper than the guy who did it for mmicrosoft:

http://cache.gawker.com/ass...

Actually I think it has more to do with Poland than with Microsoft...

http://pitchinvasion.net/bl...

yes the psp ad is how you see it, in America where black men were once slaves to white, even today would be very inappropriate, where as an ad like that in Japan would just be an normal ad, as they never dealt with that type of racism. I don't defend the ad, but i do believe it was never put up in America where it would highly offend alot of people. Now MS photoshoping a black man out for white, and doing a piss poor job of it is going to get more attention.

I'm glad I don't live in a place with people this paranoid.
Where I come from, race is the last thing anyone pays attention to.

The Sony ad is obviously not racist, but thanks to your run-of-the-mill, Jesse Jackson paranoids, everything is.

And this MS ad is meant to be case sensitive, so that persons connect it to themselves. And Poland isn't very full of black men.

Almost every type of human being from race to religion has been someone's slave at some point in history. It's almost like a college frat hazing. Once it's over you are in the club.

It seems the only people who are not going to let it go are black people and everything all the time is racist. I swear 9/10 black people look for a black loophole in anything to consider it racist.

Slavery ended---GET OVER IT. How is anyone going to move on and we treat each other more equally if people won't just stop playing the race card for god sakes.

As for the two different ads...I seriously doubt you'd spend millions on either of those ads and then have to take them down almost right away, get hate for it, and tarnish your rep simply to power your racist ways. Neither Msoft or Sony was blatantly being racist...and I bet it was a white guy who pointed both out and not a black dude.

LET IT F*CKING GO EVERYONE. MOVE ON!

@ socomnick and infecteddk

so, you are telling me that there aren't any black people in mexico or argentina?
please, I beg you, for the sake of not being called ignorant, read a book. If you don't know of any, then look up afro-mexicans, you will be surprised by their rich and extensive history.
one more thing,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
you learn something new everyday, please don't be ignorant in these here threads.
having said that, as a black person, I have no problem with happened. I see it as an honest mistake, which was justifiable due to the demographic difference in the two regions. Although, I would have rather used a different image altogether, instead of having to crop someone out.

Don't hate on the U.S. because it's citizens are sensitive to race. It's not something we're proud of but it's definitely something that we have to work through. We have a very messed up history when it comes to race. Native Americans were slaughtered and pushed off their land with treaty after treaty broken. Slaves were imported to build this country up and make it rich. Many were thrown to sharks on the trip over, after slavery those same people were still treated poorly by those who enslaved them and to this day are treated poorly by some. Japanese and German Americans were thrown into internment camps a drug out their homes. The Irish were treated poorly as well when they arrived in large numbers. The U.S. is a very young country compared to other countries of the world. We have a lot of wounds that are still fresh. Give us time and try not to judge so harshly. (Lest ye be judged)

I never said anything about the US.
In fact, I LIVE IN THE US. Just not a lot of racism in the town I live in.

Don't assume, lest you be assumed upon.

And I took third grade History, thanks XD
And why must of great-great-great-great -great-great-great-great- great-great-Grandparents define us and how we treat eachother?

There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc.

And then there are just Americans. You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You call me 'White-boy,' 'Cracker,' 'H-o-n-k-e-y,''W-h-i-t-e-y,' 'Caveman'... and that's OK..

But when I call you, (Im sure you guys can think of a few words, im not posting for my own and most probably site reasons) .. You call me a racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you... so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day.

You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day.

You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi.

You have the NAACP. You have BET.... If we had WET (White Entertainment Television), we'd be racists. If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists.

If we had White History Month, we'd be racists.

If we had any organization for only whites to 'advance' OUR lives, we'd be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce. Wonder who pays for that??

A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant, but any color can be in the Miss America pageant...

If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships... You know we'd be racists.

There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US ...... Yet if there were 'White colleges', that would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.

I am proud... But you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites can be racists??

BE PROUD TO BE WHITE!

It's not a crime YET.... but getting very close!

You gotta give MS some credit... for making us laugh!

anyone think it funny that they changed the head to white but kept the hands black thinking no one would notice.. lol

A socomnick:

I don't know what race you are, but whatever it is it's guaranteed that most rights you enjoy in America were partially due to some Black, White, or Jewish guy getting his head bashed-in fighting for it directly or indirectly and some White guy voting to enforce those rights: so you really need to shut the heck up.

@ jadenkorri

I know that the post wasn't your writing, so I'm not directly addressing you; and hopefully this doesn't sound racist, because that's not my intention. In short order, in respect to the letter that you posted, I have one question: as a people, what do whites in the United States have to struggle for or are struggling for? If whites were being oppressed and marched for those rights I don't believe any race would call Whites racist for that. Whites marched every year at political rallies against George Bush and other presidents: where's the ethnic backlash for that? I've seen none from any race, Native, Jewish, Black or otherwise.

All because something doesn't carry a name doesn't mean that it isn't acting on the behalf of the name is doesn't carry. For example: just about every channel is "White Entertainment Television", and just about every month in school is "White History Month", and Just about every holiday is "White Pride Day". If the tables were turned, and there was only one channel/month/day that catered to White people, the people who created those items would be stupid in not pointing that out.

I mean, No person of color that I know of is saying that since a certain race make up a certain percentage of the population that a certain percentage of the holidays should be for that race in America. WTF? Do people just seethe in their parents basements making this sh!t up, or does one have to get some sort of brain damage first?

No one is saying it's bad to be White, everyone should be happy to be who they are: but when certain people pull out swastikas and burn crosses when doing so, I tend to disagree with their intentions. Heck, let me know when certain Arab, Latin, Black, Asian, or other people are pulling out swastikas and burning crosses, I'll be there to oppose that, too.

Making lies and twisting information to try to invent oppression where there is not is nothing short of sad.

And about the "ghetto" being a bad place to live? Here's the main reason:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

there aren't a lot of asians in poland either but they decided to keep the asian dude the same and not replace him

obviously they must think that blacks come with negative connotations when it comes to doing business in poland..

It isn't really M$'s fault it's more a marketing guys fault. They are not the first company to be caught altering things for the East European audience. Obviously they do it because it works.

I don't want to point fingers or label people but regularly in European football (soccer) matches French, German and English teams experience the worst racism against black players in East European countries. It's something that used to happen in the English leagues every game and has all but vanished.

A lot of other companies will be in on this too it's nothing specific to M$.

Sad thing is that they can't just come out and say that "yeh the marketing took a black guy out of a photo because that is more acceptable for the country the advert was aimed at."

I bet in 20 years time when European investment and laws have raised these countries up to parity with many West European countries this will be an embarrasing part of their history never discussed.

I will adress each of your points.

Firstly ethnic minorities are called their respective variation of American because they have 2 cultures. It isn't about colour as you suggest if it was there'd never be a person that said the terms Italian American or Irish American.

If a black person calls you a racist name then it is racism end of story. The difference between a white person saying a racist name to a black person is that white people invented the very words used. They were used to label people as inferior which actually created a mindset that still pervades today that black people are strong and aggressive but lack intelligence. Black people were actually fobidden from learning to read once upon a time to keep them in their place.
Secondly it's hard to call a white American "white boy" and be as offensive as calling a black man "n*****" for the simple reason that most Americans are white. The infrastructure the laws the culture the history is all white dominated so how can somebody talk down to a person of the same ethnic background that all of that was implemented by. If we were talking about white Koreans or white indians being reffered to as "white boy" then your argument would have more weight.

The argument that black people commit violence against black people is not an excuse for the inequality that has always existed in North America towards black people. The best jobs in America (until Obama) go to black people, television and films are geared towards white people, racial profiling by the police is rife and violence against black people still goes on. It was only a few years ago that 2 racists hancuffed a black wheel chair bound man to the back of a truck and drove till there was nothing left of him, black people don't do that sort of thing against each other. I remember hearing stories from New Orleans about white survivors finding food after hurricane Katrina and black people looting and stealing. Many of those same black people were shot by the way. Yes being black makes you a second class citizen in America. It affect your social mobility to such an extent that if you are born into a bad neighbourhood you have almost no hope or opportunity to rise above it. Many black people don't even try.
There's a massive difference between violence or oppression against someone because of what they are as oppsed to violence against someone because of the social conditions you were raised in.

The United Negro College Fund is aimed at fighting back against the innequality that exists in the hope that those black people capable of going to college get the chance. White people have no need of such a fund because they make up the majority of people in the best jobs and the best colleges and the best communities. Such a fund for white people wouldn't be a bad thing but would only entrench the already vast innequality between black and white people.

There is no need for white entertainment television because most films and television are geared towards middle class white Americans. Yes even Oprah, even Montell. I'll go out on a limb and even puff daddy and 50cent. Yes most American entertainment of all forms is aimed at white people.

There is no need for white history month for the simple reason that 11 months of the year are white history months. Did you not learn of the American Revolution at school?

You say that any woman can be in the Miss America Pagent and cite the Miss Black America Pagent as racist yet if the majority of miss americas were not white you'd have a better point. Something you fail to realise is that by merely having the Miss Black America Pagent black people are actually celebrating their Americanness. You could join in and watch or attend the show you could have pride in America by the event taking place. Because you or any female white person cannot compete is not an act against white people it is merely an effort to celebrate black Americans. Black beauty is not appreciated to the same extent as white beauty in the USA. If a black woman goes for a job interview with afro hair as opposed to straight hair then she will have less chance of getting the job, what kind of BS is that.

Most colleges in America are white colleges. The fact that there are black colleges is an act against innequality and there would be no black colleges I suspect you already know if there were no prejudice or innequality against black people. Let's hope there is a day when no black colleges exist in America because that would mean black people were treated equally.

White people do march in America. Nazi sympathizers and the KKK march regularly with the intention that they can impinge on or eradicate the rights of all "ethnically impure people". You're welcome to attend these marches I'm sure you'd be welcome if you're white. The fact of matter is that you should also be marching for black peoples rights because they are your fellow citizens and their rights are your rights.

White pride is one step away from racism against people of colour. What do the white "race" have to be proud of? Any major event or icon of America had at it's heart black people and people of colour working to make it happen. You dfine to me what the white race is and then we can discuss what "white pride" ought to be and how it should be celebrated. In the UK racists often say that white or British ought to mean Angle Saxon, forgetting the fact that the royal family are descendents of Germans and the Angles and Saxons were completely different people from different places within Germany.

I can guarantee you that black people will never have committed an equal amount of violence to white people as has been commited against them by white people. The slave trade was an attrocity equalled only by the holocaust of the jews and the holocaust of the Native Americans. But that's probably all just history to you right?

When you say be proud to be white, what do you actually mean? What does white pride mean? I say don't be ashamed to be white but being proud of being the majority in country that your ancestors took from another people nearly completely wiping them out and brought people from another coninent in boats that meant those people were packed like sardines and probably wouldn't survive the journey to work as salves building from the dirt the most powerful country in the world that now continues to hold those same black people down in a position of innequality is quite franky ludicrous. If it were a competition between races then well done, white people have won.

the photoshopped pic looks hilarious!!!

I see what they were trying to do with the Sony ad and as a black man i think the ad looks cool and I like it because it is edgy, but it is more of a problem because of the social problems between white and black people in America that makes it an issue. Now Microsoft on the other hand truly offends me with there ad though.

yeah, they really should of just took a different picture for Poland. WTF were they thinking. Some people are wondering if they should buy anymore Microsoft products but this really isn't the whole companies fault, just a few idiots in advertising that need some sensitivity training.

I lol'd @ "no black people in Poland". Poland has mastered the science of AI borders, capable of detecting skin tone, and denying access to all blacks.

Your comment exposes your ignorance about the world around you. There are black people in Poland. There are many black people all over Europe. The only thing you know about Europe is based on Hollywood. France is one example of a place with a large African/black population. Infact European nations were safe havens for former slaves and blacks in many cases were never prohibited from marrying or integrating with whites.

The type of racism found in the USA is almost unique in its severity and psychosis. This type of thinking was ingrained into the poor white population by the elitist plantation owners through propaganda to prohibit sympathy toward slaves. Infact, it was slavery that made about 90 perc of the Southern population to be in absolute poverty. Slaves occupied jobs that could have been given to poor white person. Just like today, people blame mexicans for taking jobs, when infact its eaiser to inforce and punish corperations then it is to polices hundreds of miles of a boarder.

In Sweden there has been, for years, a large black/muslim population, but your not going to learn that from a movie. So get your ignorant self educated, before you make a statement.

And you are a ignorant Polock. That sheep on your avatar is probably your girlfriend. You are not from America so no one expect you to understand. Im sure not everyone in Poland is as ignorant as you.

I think he maent to say they arent many. I saw a couple of black people representing Poland at the athletics world cup a week ago.

Oh, the irony. Black people are not sensitive, white people are sensitive, that's why they saw fit to photo shop a black man out of a commercial aired in a dominantly white country, it's the reason why the world is "f'ed" up, and it's the reason why people of color rebel against integrating with the dominate white race and you know this. LOL. I bet if I go to Poland they probably have separate rest rooms for black and white folks. What is the worst that would have happened if they left the commercial in it's original form, what are they trying to say or hide?

Microsoft just confirmed a whole lot in this stupid commercial.

Well, minorities tend to be sensitive when they've been treated like crap for hundreds of years by the majority. But I think that's besides the point.

This is a stupid marketing gimmick executed very poorly.

I like how the Black/White guy seems to be working from an Apple laptop.

The African race and their descendants are not minorities, they are very far from being a minority, their numbers range in the billions, but you can't tell that to the mind controlled media.

African Americans can probably find their European ancestors easier than their African ancestors, so which race are they?

Doesn't mean we have to make sure there are no images of black people in the media there, it's perfectly fine to show diversity in any country.