Sony: We're Sorry About the DEAD GOAT
I still want to know whose bright idea it was to promote a game with a real-life decapitated goat... Brilliant! For the "internal investigation" it should be easy to find the culprit - just follow the trail of blood... <guffaw>
From EE Times via Reuters:
Sony apologizes for dead goat prop at game party
LOS ANGELES ‹ Sony Corp. Monday (April 30) issued an
apology for using a freshly slaughtered goat as a prop at its "God of War
II" video game launch party in Athens, a publicity stunt that has outraged
animal rights activists.
Sony hosted about 20 journalists at the March 1 event,
which it called a theatrical dramatization with a Greek mythological theme. The
goat, provided to the production company by a local butcher, was part of the
set dressing, the company said.
The U.K.'s Daily Mail newspaper on Sunday published a
story on the party, where female hostesses with breasts covered with nothing
but body paint fed grapes to guests, who competed to eat the most "warm
entrails" -- a meat soup made to look like the goat's internal organs.
The Daily Mail's story quoted the International Fund for
Animal Welfare, which said it was "outrageous" that the animal's
death had been used "to sell a few computer games."
In its mea culpa, Sony said: "We recognise that the
use of a dead goat was in poor taste and fell below the high standards of
conduct we set ourselves."
The company said it has launched an internal inquiry into
the circumstances of the event and that it will put measures in place to make
sure it does not happen again.
Greek mythology-inspired "God of War II" for
the PlayStation 2 console was the best selling game in the United States in
March. The game has a mature rating and Sony said party attendees were all over
the age of 18.
While sales of the PS2 remain robust, sales of Sony's new
PlayStation 3 are lagging those of rival consoles from Microsoft Corp. and
Nintendo Co. Ltd
This is not the first time that the Japanese electronics
maker's video game marketing has inflamed critics.
Last year, the company pulled a Dutch billboard
advertising campaign for its the white version of its PlayStation Portable (PSP)
handheld player. It portrayed a white woman aggressively grabbing the face of a
black woman and was dubbed racist by critics.