I will probably never forget that Sony's "AlliwantforxmasisaPSP" viral marketing campaign for the rest of my life

[Arthands]

Can't believe it is almost 14 years now. For those who are too young to remember, this all starts with the emergence of a blog site Alliwantforxmasisapsp.com , a thinly veiled advertising blog that is disguised to be maintained by a kid named Charlie who is trying to help his friend Jeremy and other kids to get a PSP for Christmas. The blog was obviously targeted for kids, with the site owner providing helps and ideas to tell their parents to buy a PSP for them for Chrismas. After a while it was discovered that this site is created by Zipatoni, a marketing company hired by Sony in secret.

The viral marketing stunt backfired so horribly, that Sony quickly removed the blog and all associated contents in an attempt to erase its entire existence, with many sites covering the story.

The above video is probably the biggest gem out from the site. Its been more than a decades and I still remember it. You can still find traces of the story on the internet if you search for alliwantforxmasisapsp

 

[ThisThingIsUseful]

My friend told me about it at work. I laughed so hard and not only will I not forget the ad campaign, but I can't forget my friend's performance of it.

 

[RailWays]

Early PS3/PSP Marketing was a weird phase for Sony.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

This, the horribly racist "it's like a nut you can play outside" ads, that "white is coming" billboard...christ, it's actually kind of a minor miracle that the PSP actually managed to sell as well as it did with all of Sony's marketing fuck ups.

 

[Xx 720]

Lol classic, loved the shit out of my psp

 

[Empyrean Cocytus]

Early PS3/PSP Marketing was a weird phase for Sony.

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It's a shame too. PSP could have dominated the portable media industry, but shitty marketing and shitty luck killed it.

 

[Dijital_Majik]

Ugh, all I remember about this was the "t3xT SpE4K" and the absolute insistence that it wasn't marketing, even after being almost immediately rumbled.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

The only PSP commercials I remember were the crazy squirrels. Or was that a fever dream.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

The only PSP commercials I remember were the crazy squirrels. Or was that a fever dream.

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[Noodle]

I'll never forget this PSP ad

Or the people who defended it as "not racist".

 

[Mona]

step yo game up, marcus psp

 

[Lord Fanny]

It's a shame too. PSP could have dominated the portable media industry, but shitty marketing and shitty luck killed it.

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Well, that and a little thing called the DS lol

 

[Y2Kev]

Games so crazy
They totally amaze me
Gotta ask my mom for one
For sheezy

 

[malaiseforever]

Well that was absolutely cringeworthy. I guess that was the point?
I'm assuming the kid in the video never mentions this to anyone these days.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

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So I wasn't just tripping...

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Well, that and a little thing called the DS lol

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Also the iPod, portable DVD players, and, within a couple of years, the iPhone.

 

[Huncho_Houdini]

I'll never forget this PSP ad

Or the people who defended it as "not racist".

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This shit was mindnumpingly stupid.

And then people said it wasn't because there was a reverse version.

 

[Com_Raven]

Fun fact- it was (alongside IloveBees) the topic of my master's thesis on viral games marketing. Thanks for my degree, "Charlie" :)

 

[Hamster Plugin]

That means the marketing worked.

Should have done the same to save the Vita.

 

[ghostcrew]

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

That means the marketing worked.

Should have done the same to save the Vita.

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Despite the old adage, there IS such a thing as bad publicity, especially when what the audience takes away from your ad campaign is "This shit's stupid. I'm not going to buy it."

 

[K' Dash]

First time seeing that ad, it's terrible.

 

[EchoSmoker]

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[Fuu]

I remember the white is coming ad, but I didn't know about the xmas viral campaign.

I got confused about how the video in the OP was related to the story because the dude in it doesn't even look like a kid or a teenager, but I just read that apparently that was one of the things that people called out too back then.

 

[PS9]

games so crazy

they totally amaze me

gotta ask my mum for one

foooooor shizzy

*fucks a ladder*

 

[Joltik]

Oh we posting bad PSP ads?

 

[Vexii]

I'll never forget this PSP ad

Or the people who defended it as "not racist".

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Holy FUCK?????

 

[Liliana]

Yeah, it was the first time I saw a gaming company astroturf. Imagine how easy it is for them to do it nowadays without getting caught? I'm sure it happens right under our noses.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Flailing chaotic early PS3/PSP era Sony sure was something. Between the squirrels, crying babies, All I want for Christmas, WHITE IS COMING, and Chad Warden (a fan hoax I know but still the cherry on top of all of this), it was a... memorable era for sure.

Oh and remember this stunt?

 

[BionicDreamer]

LMAO! HOW have I never seen this before?!

 

[Bandage]

Flailing chaotic early PS3/PSP era Sony sure was something. Between the squirrels, crying babies, All I want for Christmas, WHITE IS COMING, and Chad Warden (a fan hoax I know but still the cherry on top of all of this), it was a... memorable era for sure.

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That baby still haunts my nightmares.

 

[Era of not Yakuza]

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Oh we posting bad PSP ads?

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I wonder who approved this

I'll never forget this PSP ad

Or the people who defended it as "not racist".

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I will never understand who approved this

 

[Oreiller]

Never heard of this video. Thx OP, it's fantastic.

 

[Arthands]

That means the marketing worked.

Should have done the same to save the Vita.

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They did

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I like that someone apparently went "those streetartists are totally tolerant, they won`t mind if we put up some fake art that is really a badly-designed commercial".

Yeah, because people spraying and tagging do NOT care about their canvas.

 

[cmdrshepard]

They did

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This was just gross back in the day - i remember actually seeing the ad and my then girlfriend said I would not be getting a Vita. She still remembers the ad to this day and the word Vita is basically a bad word around her because it triggers memories of this.

 

[s y]

They did

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lmaaaaaaaaaaooooooo

sony was on crack

 

[JoeNut]

I've never seen this before and it is amazing

 

[Deleted member 51848]

What's fun about the impending arrival of cloud services is that they could all use a device with really amazing gaming controls to run on...

 

[Deleted member 3038]

They did

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LMAO I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS, THIS IS ALMOST PARODY TIERS OF RIDICULOUS

 

[djplaeskool]

Yeah, PSP/Early PS3 advertising from Sony was fucking WILD

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

My friend told me about it at work. I laughed so hard and not only will I not forget the ad campaign, but I can't forget my friend's performance of it.

Click to shrink...

This was the last era of having to act out stuff before smartphones and youtube. Good times.

 

[Komo]

They did

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what the fuck?

 

[ThisThingIsUseful]

This was the last era of having to act out stuff before smartphones and youtube. Good times.

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Holy shit, when you put it in that perspective, you're right! O_O

Nowadays, it's, "Lemme just show it to you because I can't do it justice."

 

[TYRANITARR]

I can sing that video now. Still remember it.

 

[Deleted member 17388]

Yeah, it was the first time I saw a gaming company astroturf. Imagine how easy it is for them to do it nowadays without getting caught? I'm sure it happens right under our noses.

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Now I guess they use the communities to manufacture the content and share it "organically" :v
Or like those cringy Sony GIFs recreating popular memes using the official engines and 3D models.

There was also a brief pre-release time where a Final Fantasy XV image of the protagonists in a car was being used as a funny:

But then Square-Enix officially released an official art asset to create your own memes! Which killed any traction the image had... :v

 

[Qwark]

PSP marketing in general was SO BAD.

Now I guess they use the communities to manufacture the content and share it "organically" :v
Or like those cringy Sony GIFs recreating popular memes using the official engines and 3D models.

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I like those Sony gifs :/

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

It's a shame too. PSP could have dominated the portable media industry, but shitty marketing and shitty luck killed it.

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Didn't the PSP sold like 85M consoles?

 

[Belthazar90]

Is this 30 yo dude supposed to be the kid maintaining the blog?

 

[Macross]

To be fair, this was not just Sony in those days. Looking back there is so much cringe-worthy advertising in the gaming industry as a whole. I'm curious if this was all from one advertising sector at Sony or some outside company making kewl sik adz..