Sony Gets Skewered For Decapitated Goat
At this point, you may have heard of the UK God of War 2 release party where a decapitated goat’s stomach was opened and used as a centerpiece for a dish containing offal, goat innards. The table setting caused quite an uproar when it appeared in the tabloid publication, The Daily Mail. The headline read “SLAUGHTER: Horror at Sony’s depraved stunt to promote PlayStation with decapitated goat.” (No, that’s not sensationalist in the least bit.) The Official PlayStation UK magazine ran a story about the party, where they printed a picture of the offending image. Consequentially, Sony had to do some serious damage control over the situation. Kotaku contacted Sony and their PR representative had these points to say about the promotional stunt:
- The party was held on March 1, and attended by around twenty European journalists (none from the UK).
- The actual article in the Official PlayStation mag was written by a guy who wasn't in attendance; the piece was done on the basis of the party's invite, "which employed a degree of hyperbole in order to encourage attendance".
- The goat in question had already been killed (ie it wasn't killed at the party), and had been sourced from a local butcher.
- The goat's "entrails" were actually bowls of traditional Greek meat soup. At no stage was anyone allowed to touch the goat, nor did anyone eat or drink anything from inside the goat. After the party, the carcass was returned to the butcher.
- SCEE say that they first saw the photo last Thursday and immediately ordered it to be pulled from the magazine, and on Friday Official PlayStation Mag agreed. The magazine never reached general circulation, but subscribers did receive the issue with the offending picture included.
- SCEE closed by saying: "We are conducting an enquiry to establish the circumstances behind the event in order to ensure this does not happen again. We also apologise to anyone offended by the article in the OPSM."
The scene of the party was supposed to have an air of Greek decadence. They had topless ladies with red paint across their bosoms, and men wearing animal hides. The goat was in line with the theme of the party. Yes it was over the top, but I believe they knew exactly what they were doing with the centerpiece. They knew that they would cause a media storm, and went ahead with it regardless of the consequence. As the old saying goes, ‘There’s no such thing as bad press.’ What do you think? Was the controversy surrounding this stunt a premeditated promotional event for Sony, or were they just caught with their goat hanging out?
Goatgate: Sony's Side Of The Story [Kotaku]
Toots
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 30 April 2007
· Comments (15)
Other stuff like this: decapitated, goat, god of war 2 party, offal, scandal, sony
It's inappropriate at best, extremely misguided at worst. It just sounds like a bad idea from tip to tail and I can't imagine someone actually approving it unless they were high (on drugs or ego).
If they wanted a party based on Greek decadence, they should have included pederasty as well. Now THAT would have nabbed headlines.
Any party planner or PR person who decides "decapitated goat" is an unobjectionable theme for a party of any sort is, perhaps, poorly suited for the profession.
Would a stuffed animal and a bit of red paint really have crippled the ambiance?
And I'm with Eric. Where were the Persian boys?
You'd think that by now, Sony would realize that there is indeed such a thing as bad press.
yeahh. and i was thinking they couldn't screw up more... they just continue to prove me wrong...
anyway, you have to wonder what will they do for the release of grand theft auto...
i'm sure they will have hookers at a cop's ball theme for GTA 4 with dead bodies laying around... and they will get these dead bodies from the city morge.
I'm disappointed you cropped out the titties from the original photo. Our lesbian gamers get short changed again...
I might be in the minority here
but thats so metal.
I agree--it ain't exactly animal cruelty, but it is an EXTREMELY stupid way to host a party.
I'm not necessarily a fan of eating innards, well besides sausage casings. Although if someone told me that they were serving a goat offal dish from a goat carcass, I would probably try it for the experience alone. How often do you get a dish prepared and presented in such a matter? It reminds me a bit of the feast scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Anyway, they got the goat from a butcher, it was going to be killed eventually. I still think that it was just another promotion stunt for their product.
I agree with everyone to a point, but I also think this has been blown way out of proportion. I read the article and said "meh...so what." It's a tempest in a teapot.
"I agree with everyone to a point, but I also think this has been blown way out of proportion. I read the article and said "meh...so what." It's a tempest in a teapot."
Me too, but this is sony weare talking about. With all the bad press they get you would think they try to put a nice face and not feed time bombs to the reporters
Can I make an observation here?
As of now, Sony == Acclaim.
Thanks, that was all.
am i the only one that wishes they were at that party?
*grins* nope, i wouldn't turn down a free party!!
I'm amazed noone from the UK has commented on this kind of story not being a rare occurence from the Daily Mail, a newspaper that consistently jumps on sensationalist bandwagons, stories involving GTA and Manhunt are not uncommon here ;)
They aren't quite like the National Enquirer! (more journalistic integrity, just :P ) Though they do uphold a conservative anti- abortion, immigration, traditional middle class english stance.
4get the goat, where's the story about the GREEK GOD! guy in the corner? hubba!