Sony contemplating lawsuit over Change4Life ad
- Posted March 9th, 2009 at 15:34 EDT by
- 83 Comments
We're going to start this article off with the picture that sparked this situation.
If you haven't figured it out, the child is playing a video game with a controller similar to those of Sony's PlayStation brand. Why is this such an issue? The company who was in charge of the ad, The Gate, did not seek permission from the gaming giant in order to utilize the obvious likeness of its controller.
The Change4Life ad campaign has been started by the British government in order to bring attention to the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. The image, which depicts a young child playing video games, gives off the impression that playing video games instead of going outside may lead to an early death. A handful of other prominent companies in the gaming industry have already spoken out against this ad, including Sega, Atari, Future Publishing, TIGA, ELSPA and MCV.
It's not set in stone yet whether or not SCEE plans on going through with legal action against either The Gate or potentially the British government itself, but the image is definitely provocative from a gamer's point of view. That's not to say we don't value exercise -- we love our sports and physical activities as much as everyone else -- but gaming can certainly be part of a healthy lifestyle.
We'll be sure to watch closely as this develops.
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Comments
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PsychoMantis
- 7:14pm EDT - March 9th, 2009
- 61
This is a petty way at getting money, I know that you can't use peoples stuff without there premission and run the risk of getting sued though. In the end this ad won't wake up every parent in the world to make sure there kid is active it will get ignored just like other ads like it.
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1solidsnake |
solid1snake67- 7:19pm EDT - March 9th, 2009
- 64
it's not video games fault, it's the parents or the persons fault for laying around and just playing video games, i mean someone probably sits around and just plays games all day. someone who is rich enough to do this, it's always a possibility, or is just to lazy to even get a job. i'd say sue them till their poor as a bum on the street.
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darkknight88
- 8:15pm EDT - March 9th, 2009
- 66
Sue them. I'm tired of ads like this saying that videogames are the cause of kids not excercising or in this ad, kills kids. WTF?!
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Ryuuchi10
- 12:25am EDT - March 10th, 2009
- 69
Staying inside or going outside are two diffrerent things but if they are talking about death then that's a different story. Whether your inside or outside, you'll never know what hits you. So, that ad is bunch of bullcrap.
Plus, that kid is using a controller almost the same as the Playstation controller. Sony has the upperhand here for suing. Am I getting the feeling that the ad are Xbots?
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Ill_Omen17
- 1:14am EDT - March 10th, 2009
- 71
this is retarded the same thing can be said for tv in general theres no NEED for the controller im smelling a lawsuit
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Sedated_Experiment
- 4:10am EDT - March 10th, 2009
- 72
Judging by the look on his face, his playing History Channel: Battle for the Pacific that his parents bought him thinking, "well he can play games, AND learn at the same time!!!".
Poor kid.
And because of it, he probably wants to commit suicide. So the ad may be right - playing games could lead to an early death.
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scans007
- 4:39am EDT - March 10th, 2009
- 74
Seriously - why don't you spend your energy teaching parents how to engage their kids and not rely on a TV or video games. Teach them to blance life with games and exercise......instead of wasting millions of dollars into crap and putting the blame somewhere else. Everything comes down to parenting, not the surrounding infulences.....garbage, I hope SCEE sue's the crap outta them and wins big....
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aaron_wuz_hur
- 3:18pm EDT - March 10th, 2009
- 79
well this is s**t everyone else is right wy the h*ll would they put a sony product
its no sonys fault kids are obiese its fast food and junk food
so i eat everyday
and i run and im in shape lol
this is s**t sue them sony thats discrimination
by the way the kid looks stressed so he played a videogame
a lot safer than playing on the streets like getting r*ped or getting s*ot
or even run over... scr*w this add..... imma play some unhealthy games lol
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RandomBeef
- 3:51pm EDT - March 10th, 2009
- 80
Wow I'm suprised this ad is for Britain. I would of thought from just looking at the poster it's for the country that needs too loose weight the most, but I guess it's too late for Americans.
This will permanently ban this user and delete all associated comments. This action is irreversible, are you SURE you want to do this?!
