If all ads need to do is cause attention, then at least be more creative about it! Let's have dolphin zombies, nazis, and pandas all parading around in a balloon of flying seagulls and cactus fruit with a giant PS3 made out of unicorn blood.

That'll get people's attention too...

But in the end, will the advertisment simply cause attention, or will it actually do what it was intened to do: sell systems.

I don't think shock advertising is all that effective or you'd see more of it. There are also potential negative aspects to shock advertising, like turning off family oriented buyers. I've had more than a few parents tell me they wouldn't buy a PS3 or 360 because of the perception of violent games. You can disagree with that sentiment, however it does exist and I have witnessed it first hand.

For all those people defending this ad, even Sony doesn't want anything to do with it. It was bad advertising and I'm glad Sony recognized this, even if some of the Sony faithful didn't.

"This creative design did not involve and was never approved by Sony Computer Entertainment or Sony. This "mock campaign" was developed by BBDO Chile staff and was submitted to various creative competitions/festivals without prior notification or approval from SCE/Sony, and it is not representative of the views or advertising policies of SCE/Sony. BBDO Chile apologizes for using this creative concept without authorization or prior approval, and for its misrepresentation of the PlayStation brand and its values."

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/01/sony-says-nazi-ps3-ad-is-a-mock-campaign-and-not-real/

Whoops, forgot about this thread!

I know people love to throw around the no publicity is bad publicity type of saying but that just isn't right.  You're probably the same type of person that sees the billboards that say Does billboard advertising work?  Just did! and think that's clever.

In reality, just because you read it doesn't mean it works and just because I'm posting those ads to point out how bad they are doesn't mean they work.  It is possible for people to get negative opinions from an ad and then ads that don't even have anything in any way at all to do with the product it's advertising are just rediculous and also don't work that great.

One of the comments from your link there:

"All the publicity, none of the blame. Sony has finally perfected their means of advertising."

lol

Yep it was done without sony's approval, the gaming media jumped the gun once again. Fail gaming journalists fail.

It should have been obvious since it features the old logo that Sony ditched after the slim launch >_>

They can be the worst thought-out advertising pics ever, the most controversial, the most racist, etc etc. Point is it got our attention and not just us (VGC) but many many other websites that have nothing to do with gaming or technology for that matter. They got what they wanted which is product awareness. People who have never seen a PS3 ad or even have the slightest idea what the PS3 is will look at these pics and see the PS3 logo. If interested they'll do some reseach and see what the PS3 is all about. There you go, a new PS3 owner. Cases vary. Another example is typical conversation topic "did you see that new PS3 ad". People who have no idea what the PS3 is ask what the ad is about and so forth... It's a bit deeper than just an ad that says "PS3 gaming console available for 299".

There's advertising for eveyone, for every type of people. These target a certain demographic, same as the "it only does everything!" campaign, which btw I find EXCELLENT. This isn't the first time they come up with these types of advertising ideas for their products:

More here:

http://speckyboy.com/2009/09/07/39-creative-and-sometimes-controversial-examples-of-playstation-advertising/

^^ wut

This is how you can be fantastically offensive, yet boring at the same time.