Sony has decided to pull its controversial advertisement that was panned as being racist in nature.  The ads were created for Sony’s ‘ceramic white’ line of PSP’s.  The advertisement depicted a white woman grabbing the face of a black woman in what seemed to be a violent manner.  The ad has never been released in the Unites States, however the Internet has allowed for millions of people to view it.  Nick Sharples, Sony’s Director of Corporate Communications in Europe, issued the following statement:

 "We… recognize that people have a wide variety of perceptions about such imagery and we wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended. In future, we will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery, and will take due account of the increasingly global reach of such local adverts, and their potential impact in other countries."

Sony’s fast retraction has been hailed by most to be a positive sign for the industry.  California Assemblyman Leland Yee has been an outspoken critic of violent video games and their effects on young children.  Mr. Yee hailed Sony’s decision to remove the advertisement with the following statement:

"I am pleased to see Sony taking responsibility for their racially-charged ad and appropriately pulling it from the marketplace," he commented. "Sony did the right thing by recognizing their insensitive mistake and apologizing for offending many of their customers."  

Sony has created a firestorm of media attention over this issue that hasn’t waned until the retraction was issued.  Most industry insiders are applauding Sony for taking the high road and admitting to making a mistake.