The ad, which first went online on November 21 and was soon set to "private" can still be viewed elsewhere on YouTube (watch it below). It features an attractive brunette "doctor" who at first appears to be suggesting the viewer has been furiously masturbating: "I bet you've already done it today. Or are you afraid you're doing it too often? In your bedroom under the blankets? Or perhaps you prefer the kitchen or the toilet? Or do you like it in the garden?"
The clumsy reveal at the end is that of course she wasn't being sexually suggestive: no, she was talking about the Remote Play feature on the PlayStation 4 that allows users to play games anywhere, via their PS Vitas and Xperia Z smartphones.
As the Verge points out, if Sony's intention was to prove that everyone - including attractive women (Shock! Horror!) - can be a gamer, then it has completely mis-stepped here. It makes assumptions and potentially offends everyone: that gamers are sex-starved teenagers who see women as nothing but sexual objects, and that women can only be included in the gaming conversation if they're drop dead gorgeous.
As Kwame Opam of the Verge writes: "Even if the doctor merrily joins in on the fun (gaming, that is), it's after the fact - she's a sexy lady first and a gamer second, never fully eroding what the target is."
While it can be argued that spots like this should never make it past approval stage at any time for any brand, the fact that it was released now, at the height of debate around sexism in the gaming industry, can't be overlooked.
Terrible timing, a terrible concept, and a terrible ad. No wonder Sony has quickly ripped the video from its YouTube channel.
Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The European
The PlayStation ad bears a striking resemblance to a similarly controversial 2010 ad from Xbox 360 which claimed "Everyone is doing it." Again, the accustation wasn't about sexy time, but playing computer games. Compare and contrast: