Sony’s CES 2016 press conference earlier this week didn’t exactly set the world on fire with any major announcements, but CEO Kazuo Hirai still made it worth watching, thanks largely to a humorous section dedicated to Internet memes of the likable executive.
Hirai took to the stage in Las Vegas for the conference, where he took the time to praise the continued performance of the PlayStation 4, which recently surpassed the 39 million sales mark globally. He also mentioned how the PlayStation brand is a platform for creative expression and a design benchmark for the electronics manufacturer.
Amusingly, he gave his speech with a massive screen projecting images of various Hirai-themed Internet memes, including the notorious ‘CEO Kaz Hirai’ Twitter parody account, which offers a tongue-in-cheek viewpoint on all things Sony and Kaz related.
You can check out the meme slideshow below, which also includes an appropriate response from the aforementioned parody account on the conference.
Here at CES I was able to show Sony’s most exciting product of the last 5 years: My Twitter account. pic.twitter.com/uQyWAQiMed
— CEO Kaz Hirai (@KazHiraiCEO) January 6, 2016
Hirai has a long history with Sony, having started out with the company’s music division in 1984 and eventually headed up the marketing of Sony Music Japan’s artists in the United States. He later joined Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) in 1995, where he was instrumental in the success of the original PlayStation and its successor, the PlayStation 2. His first credited video game came in 1997, two years after he joined the company.
In November 2006, Sony appointed Hirai the role of company president, succeeding the ‘Father of PlayStation,’ Ken Kutaragi. The following spring, he became President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI). Up until a few years ago, Hirai typically headed up the majority of Sony’s major press conferences, including E3, among which lead to a number of popular memes, such as his presentation at E3 2006 regarding the whole PS3 price debacle.
As of April 1, 2012, Hirai serves as President and CEO of Sony Corporation and is a member of the board of directors for SCEI. Entertainment Weekly has named the Sony head honcho as one of the most powerful executives in the world.