Honestly, Sony has been off the mark with their ad campaigns in recent years. It's a wonder they haven't learned from their mistakes, yet.

They've been at the center of bad publicity for a while now ("Gamers will want to get a second job to own a PS3", very bad White PSP campaign, this new ad campaign, reports of losing money on sales), it almost seems like they just don't care what kind of publicity they can get.

That nurse is SCARY!

How the hell is any sane person supposed to realize the dude is Erwin Rommel?

Meh, I don't see a problem here. I'm kind of tired of the whole "lets censor anything from the past that we consider objectionable today". Like how people want to remove the n-word from Huck Finn, or how we edit cartoons from the 30s so that they don't portray people in an "insensitive light", or apparently should not display a swastika in a way that doesn't promote it, in a commercial. I suppose the only reason to do any of this is "for the children", but I'd think it would be better to let them see/read such things, and then explain the significance to them, than allow them to flounder in ignorance or discover such things on their own from other unsavory sources.

Yeah, I get the whole "giving life to characters" thing, but its PR101 that if you use Nazi imagery, people are going to get pissed.

However, from experience, I have to point out, that outside of most of the western world, Hitler and Nazis are not something people get all offended about. They are not nazi sympathizers either - in fact far from it - but at the same time, if punk teenager wore a tee with a Nazi symbol on it, people would just give him a dirty look, call him an idiot maybe, and just move on.

I don't really get the point of the ads. Giving Joan of Arc a heart transplant? Giving a nazi blood?
What's that have to do with a game console?

@Saboth: Agreed, especially with old cartoons. Sure there should be a disclaimer - hey people thought differently back then - but if we censor the fuck out of it, how will we ever learn what we did wrong?

@temporaryerror: Fuck that, the whole room is scary! Look at that medical equipment!

@Oranges w/ Cheese eats her veggies: The player is supposed to be giving life to the character. Get it? Its a fairly clever ad actually. Ruined for most by Nazi imagery, but still.

@Oranges w/ Cheese eats her veggies: By playing the game, you're giving life to the characters?
I dunno, I think the ads are inspired, but maybe it's because I love creepy medical images.

The real question is whether people in the overseas target markets get offended, or care.

@MostlyHarmless:
At least they did pick the best Nazi. You know, still a Nazi but the best one.

Even by his enemies, he was generally seen as fair and even chivalrous. He just had to much loyalty to his country to abandon it.

Rommell didn't treat POWs inhumanely in northern Africa, refused to outright kill jewish prisoners of war, wrote letters protesting treatment of the jews, refused orders to deport jews in France to Germany, and the Afrika Korps he led was never accused of any war crmies. Finally, he was part of a failed plot to kill Hitler. The failed plot of course led to the end of his life.

I'm just saying, if theres one high profile Nazi to put in your advertisements. Its Rommell.

@Ben Popken: What do you mean? I thought that American social mores governed all nations.

@Ben Popken: They took a lead from Microsoft, and photoshopped someone else's head on the body.

@Ben Popken: I think the real question is
"If this ad offends, then should there be entire games based around Nazi's?"

This is opening the floodgates of a nanny-state discussion.

I find it disturbing that the nurse holding the heart in the second pic looks more freaked out than the guy who obviously "donated" it. He looks positively smitten at the idea. Ewwwwwwww.

Not that it matters because in no way ever anywhere am I the target audience for the product...

@bornonbord: What you say is true: One of the best games ever was full of Nazis, Wolfenstein (sp) folks. the first, first person shooter that I can recall. Of course it's against the nazis but still.

@Saboth: I think this is less about censorship, and more about being baffled about Sony choosing to associate itself with Nazis through its advertising campaign.

While I appreciate your moral crusade, this isn't Huckleberry Finn or an old Looney Tunes cartoon. This is a brand new ad.

@Ben Popken: Given that a lot of Nazis fled to Chile (and Argentina) post-surrender, they're probably pretty used to this kind of thing down there.

Ahem.

As someone of the Jewish persuasion, my reaction is more, "Really, Sony? You sent your ad people into a room and let them come out with this?" than actually being offended. I get the premise with the "giving life to characters" thing, but it's sort of hilarious, in a depressing kind of way, that no one thought for a second and said, "Uh, guys, maybe we should... y'know... find someone other than a Nazi- even a Nazi who tried to kill Hitler- to use for this second ad. Might work a little better, PR-wise." But then, given the current PSPgo fiasco, I'd say Sony is sinking ever more rapidly into PR obliviousness with each passing day, so no real surprise there.

The ad really isn't in good taste, but more than that, it doesn't actually say anything about Sony's console or the games. One might or might not even figure out that it's for a video game console, depending on whether they bothered to put any copy on the thing.

My question: Does Sony come up with these ads? Is it some Chilean ad agency or just one big ad agency that sony uses?

If you're "giving life to the character" then does that mean there's a PSP game where you play as the Nazis? Seems that should probably get more attention/objection than this ad...

@Saboth: I agree with you to a point. Getting rid of images from the past or changing works of literature is extreme. But it seems a bit flip to just take an image such as this and use it as an ad for selling video games. I think exposing people to such images IS important, but perhaps in a way that is at least somewhat respectful of the gravity of the past as well.

I don't know much about Chilean culture, so I can't speak to how much attention would be paid to the ads by the average parent, but my other issue with this would be that if this were an American ad, there would be some parents who would do a very good job discussing this with their kids. Then there would be a lot of parents who wouldn't notice the ad or wouldn't bother to take the time. And that defeats the purpose, and simply lines Sony's pockets.

Wasn't there a similar creepy ass ad where the people were wearing metal boxes on their head to force them to be square shaped?

IIRC, that was an XBOX ad or an ad for a game on the XBOX, but I probably don't recall correctly. But I do know it had the creepy illegal medical thing going.

@The Porkchop Express: I was going to say, Wolfenstein is one of the greatest games ever, and it was full of Nazis. Nazi zombies! A lot of the Medal of Honor games had Nazis too.

Im sorry sony but your WHOLE marketing team sucks. ass.

Do we get to suspend Godwin's Law for this article?

@The Porkchop Express: Yeah, but Pathways Into Darkness was the first Mac FPS, and will remain in my heart as the first I remember.

[en.wikipedia.org]

I actually like the one with the Nazi. Has a real retro creepy feel to it. Kind of reminds me of Bioshock.

@Ben Popken: @Ben Popken: I think Chileans would've been more offended if Sony uses a picture of Augusto Pinochet on their adds

@Oranges w/ Cheese eats her veggies:

Irwin Rommel wasn't a Nazi. He was an outspoken critic of the Nazi party, ignored orders to kill Jews and his Afrika Corps committed no war crimes. Furthermore he was actually involved in a plot to depose Hitler and bring him to trial, for which he was ultimately assassinated.

@smartmuffin:

There are lots of WW2 games where you play as Germans or "Nazis"...

@Oranges w/ Cheese eats her veggies:

Nobody is talking about censoring something from 1939, they are talking about how wholly inappropriate it is to make totally NEW ad completely disregarding the cultural relevance and sensitivities of the subject.

Who in their right mind decides the right way to market a video game console is to show a gamer helping a member of a political party that murdered 11 million people?

Did we miss the ad where a "gamer" french kisses Stalin?

I'm curious about the distinction of whether or not it is Rommel.

Does the fact that you are giving a blood transfusion to a "good" nazi really change things? I mean, I understand the guy is a bit easier to swallow than say, Goebbels, but I still don't see how it makes it ok in the slightest.

@theblackdog_Happy250thGuinness!: Why would you want to do that? You are just like Hitler, you damned Nazi!

@drizzt380: I'll just dart in here real quick - Swastika : Nazi symbol. Erwim Rommel : not a Nazi.

He never joined the party and spoke against it publicly in the mid 30's when it was safer to be quiet. A loyal soldier to an evil state, yep. But not a Nazi.

One other quick note, he was aware of the plot but didn't participate aside from not reporting it. He was convinced that killing Hitler would result in civil war and even more deaths. He wanted Hitler arrested and tried in German court.

As you were.

@pecan 3.14159265: Ok, you need to stop! between dirty jobs, alton brown, medical shows and killing nazis....Mr. Pi and Mrs Express could be in trouble!

Being Jewish, I see a serious problem with this. I find this to be a disgusting display of greed and anti-semitism. If Sony is going to do this in Chile, why not include now dead tyrant president Pinochet laying on a table with a young child giving him life again. Maybe Sony would learn to leave whats wrong with the past behind.

@Anachronism:

The only "good Nazi" was Oskar Schindler. He saved 1100 Jews from extermination, this is why in Israel, he is buried (with honours) has a HUGE tree in the garden of rememberance, has schools, streets, and buildings named after him but the most important thing is Schindler Jews continue to thrive today because of his bravery and candor.

@dfens42: How is that not a million times more offensive than simply showing a picture of a swastika in some random advertisement in Chile?

They're very artistic and well-done. I've enjoyed Sony ads. The only problem is that, for the mainstream, they're probably TOO artistic. Like the Erwin Rommel ad, they're not going to realize that it's him. Sony always seems to have bad luck, and it's too bad.

@FaustianSlip: Who persuaded you to be Jewish? ;)

I'm unsure on this... Doom would have plenty of pentagrams festooned over their sets, but no one would suggest that Sony is demonic.

@subtlefrog: Chile was quite the spot for fleeing Nazis for a while. Adding further irony to Sony's PR approach.

@drizzt380: Yup. It's important to distinguish the German military proper, and the Nazi party.
Not that it's an excuse, but there's a difference.

@edguitar: If Sony wants to go for a twofer, they can substitute the Nazi imagery for the German market, replacing it with Pinochet's.

@theblackdog_Happy250thGuinness!: Six million X-Box owners would argue otherwise.

PS: Happy Anniversary, Guinness! (Now, BlackDog, you do realize you need to down 250 pints to celebrate in proper fashion, right?)

@temporaryerror: The blonde on, yeah. But the brunette looks fiiiiine.

@smartmuffin: Why? I used to play the Germans on Axis & Allies all the time. I don't get how playing the Nazi is offensive.

@smartmuffin: Do you want to just pretend that they didn't exist? I mean, what do expect we use as a substitute in WWII games, fluffy bunnies and kittens? If playing the German side offends you *that* much, don't play the frigging game.