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From Ananova.com ...
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Sony has come under fire from the advertising watchdog by trying to lure customers with fake fan mail.
The company used a direct mailing to advertise its new Formula One PlayStation game, using a letter that appeared to be handwritten by an Italian teenager.
The Advertising Standards Authority said it was concerned that the mailing was made to look like personal correspondence sent from a child.
It said that because the mailing then implied the recipient had been sent a personal letter from an Italian teenager, it felt it was misleading.
It told Sony not to use the same approach again.
The letter said: "Gian-franco Luis, Milan. Hello, I am Gian-Franco, I am 14-years-old. I live in Italia. I am your biggest fan also I hope you win the Playstation Formula One 2001 World championship.
"Woohoo that would make me happy. When you do a cool lap then put the time on UK.Scee.Com/f1 you gotta beat Jenson Button's time. He got 1:55:17, pretty good huh? My dream is to see you win the final in Indianapolis.
"My brother says you can't do it. But he's just jealous. Psst guess what? I took this page from the magazine - now we can show him who is the boss. You can do it. I know you won't let me down. Gianfranco."
Sony said the mailing was based on the brand idea that Playstation 2 was a portal to "The Third Place" where Formula One 2001 game players would have a fan club, like a real F1 driver.
The company said the idea was that the teenage boy was one of the customer's biggest fans, and to illustrate that it was from an Italian teenager, it included a handwritten note, airmail envelope and a torn page from a magazine.
The advertisers said the mailing was intended as a fun idea - the notion that every customer could be a famous F1 driver when playing the game. But following the ASA's decision, Sony agreed that such a mailing would not be used again.
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I already made my feelings on the matter some time ago, so I shan't go into rant mode again!
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Sony has come under fire from the advertising watchdog by trying to lure customers with fake fan mail.
The company used a direct mailing to advertise its new Formula One PlayStation game, using a letter that appeared to be handwritten by an Italian teenager.
The Advertising Standards Authority said it was concerned that the mailing was made to look like personal correspondence sent from a child.
It said that because the mailing then implied the recipient had been sent a personal letter from an Italian teenager, it felt it was misleading.
It told Sony not to use the same approach again.
The letter said: "Gian-franco Luis, Milan. Hello, I am Gian-Franco, I am 14-years-old. I live in Italia. I am your biggest fan also I hope you win the Playstation Formula One 2001 World championship.
"Woohoo that would make me happy. When you do a cool lap then put the time on UK.Scee.Com/f1 you gotta beat Jenson Button's time. He got 1:55:17, pretty good huh? My dream is to see you win the final in Indianapolis.
"My brother says you can't do it. But he's just jealous. Psst guess what? I took this page from the magazine - now we can show him who is the boss. You can do it. I know you won't let me down. Gianfranco."
Sony said the mailing was based on the brand idea that Playstation 2 was a portal to "The Third Place" where Formula One 2001 game players would have a fan club, like a real F1 driver.
The company said the idea was that the teenage boy was one of the customer's biggest fans, and to illustrate that it was from an Italian teenager, it included a handwritten note, airmail envelope and a torn page from a magazine.
The advertisers said the mailing was intended as a fun idea - the notion that every customer could be a famous F1 driver when playing the game. But following the ASA's decision, Sony agreed that such a mailing would not be used again.
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I already made my feelings on the matter some time ago, so I shan't go into rant mode again!
I think they went a bit too far with the 'Important Medical Results' mailing they did in the past. Personally it didn't bother me, but I think I'd be a bit upset if I had been waiting for genuine medical results! But this one is laughable. No one would think it was real, for goodness sake....
From Ananova.com ...
-----
Sony has come under fire from the advertising watchdog by trying to lure customers with fake fan mail.
The company used a direct mailing to advertise its new Formula One PlayStation game, using a letter that appeared to be handwritten by an Italian teenager.
The Advertising Standards Authority said it was concerned that the mailing was made to look like personal correspondence sent from a child.
It said that because the mailing then implied the recipient had been sent a personal letter from an Italian teenager, it felt it was misleading.
It told Sony not to use the same approach again.
The letter said: "Gian-franco Luis, Milan. Hello, I am Gian-Franco, I am 14-years-old. I live in Italia. I am your biggest fan also I hope you win the Playstation Formula One 2001 World championship.
"Woohoo that would make me happy. When you do a cool lap then put the time on UK.Scee.Com/f1 you gotta beat Jenson Button's time. He got 1:55:17, pretty good huh? My dream is to see you win the final in Indianapolis.
"My brother says you can't do it. But he's just jealous. Psst guess what? I took this page from the magazine - now we can show him who is the boss. You can do it. I know you won't let me down. Gianfranco."
Sony said the mailing was based on the brand idea that Playstation 2 was a portal to "The Third Place" where Formula One 2001 game players would have a fan club, like a real F1 driver.
The company said the idea was that the teenage boy was one of the customer's biggest fans, and to illustrate that it was from an Italian teenager, it included a handwritten note, airmail envelope and a torn page from a magazine.
The advertisers said the mailing was intended as a fun idea - the notion that every customer could be a famous F1 driver when playing the game. But following the ASA's decision, Sony agreed that such a mailing would not be used again.
-----
I already made my feelings on the matter some time ago, so I shan't go into rant mode again!
-----
Sony has come under fire from the advertising watchdog by trying to lure customers with fake fan mail.
The company used a direct mailing to advertise its new Formula One PlayStation game, using a letter that appeared to be handwritten by an Italian teenager.
The Advertising Standards Authority said it was concerned that the mailing was made to look like personal correspondence sent from a child.
It said that because the mailing then implied the recipient had been sent a personal letter from an Italian teenager, it felt it was misleading.
It told Sony not to use the same approach again.
The letter said: "Gian-franco Luis, Milan. Hello, I am Gian-Franco, I am 14-years-old. I live in Italia. I am your biggest fan also I hope you win the Playstation Formula One 2001 World championship.
"Woohoo that would make me happy. When you do a cool lap then put the time on UK.Scee.Com/f1 you gotta beat Jenson Button's time. He got 1:55:17, pretty good huh? My dream is to see you win the final in Indianapolis.
"My brother says you can't do it. But he's just jealous. Psst guess what? I took this page from the magazine - now we can show him who is the boss. You can do it. I know you won't let me down. Gianfranco."
Sony said the mailing was based on the brand idea that Playstation 2 was a portal to "The Third Place" where Formula One 2001 game players would have a fan club, like a real F1 driver.
The company said the idea was that the teenage boy was one of the customer's biggest fans, and to illustrate that it was from an Italian teenager, it included a handwritten note, airmail envelope and a torn page from a magazine.
The advertisers said the mailing was intended as a fun idea - the notion that every customer could be a famous F1 driver when playing the game. But following the ASA's decision, Sony agreed that such a mailing would not be used again.
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I already made my feelings on the matter some time ago, so I shan't go into rant mode again!