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PSP graffiti getting on LA residents' nerves

Written by James Delahunty @ 02 Dec 2005 2:18 User comments (18)

PSP graffiti getting on LA residents' nerves In Los Angeles, some residents are starting to get annoyed with graffiti that has popped up around the city of weird looking characters playing with Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) console. Sony has not officially endorsed the various pieces of art however, and claimed to be unaware of such a campaign. Also, many of them are illegal as they are painted onto public and private property without any permission. One woman posted on a blog how annoyed she is by these weird looking figures appearing around her neighborhood.
"Is anyone else concerned that Sony PlayStation paid someone to vandalize our neighborhood to sell their latest toy," said Michelle, who claims to be a Lincoln Heights resident. "It's quite obviously an advertisement, but when I called PlayStation Consumer Services this morning, they claim to know nothing about the campaign. I guess there's just some clever youngster out here in LH that just really LOVES the PSP and wants the whole world to know about it..."



She also decided to take some action against the works of art. "I called the city today to have the stencils on the back of Juan's Market painted over," she wrote. "For some strange reason, I'd rather see my friendly local gang lay claim to that wall then have it given over to some crappy corporation and their urban marketing campaign." One noticeable thing is that they are in fact, very well done and high quality works - so it's probably not just some random kids with a spray can.

Source:
Gamespot

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18 user comments

12.12.2005 15:02

pictures?

22.12.2005 15:32

Someone is going to cross it out eventually reclaim the walls.

32.12.2005 16:01

Picture: http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2005/news/11/30/sonygraf_screen002.jpg Hmm... I doubt Sony, without any legal permission, would do such a thing. Companies generally aren't that stupid. I'd say it's just a really avid PSP fan, who wants to get a PSP, so he can multiplayer with them. ^_^

42.12.2005 16:41

Zerotech: I thought the same thing until I saw a picture of a guy doing the exact same artwork in Philly. He was looking at a guide of some kind while painting the images. So, it's either sony, or a well organized gang of taggers bent on a corporate agenda ;)

52.12.2005 16:45

"rather see my friendly local gang lay claim to that wall then have it given over to some crappy corporation and their urban marketing campaign" Really? as an artist and graffiti enthusiast, i would much rather see this sort of thing around my street than gang signs.. and friendly gangs? hmm.. the works are nicely done and i tip my hat the artist. if i had a choice between gangs scrawling curse words on the side of my house or clean psp ads, i would much rather take the ads, official marketing campaign or guerilla advertising. Thanks for posting the pics of them.

62.12.2005 17:05
OzMick
Inactive

Sony? Doing things to people's property without the owner's permission? Isn't the whole rootkit fiasco enough proof that they don't give a *%($ about people's rights?

72.12.2005 17:26

omg that's not sony that's maytag! jk lol

82.12.2005 19:09

dude that looks awesome! its not weird looking.. i guess this lady dont know style.. and the siggy looks like it says fony

103.12.2005 07:16

In a cosmic way, those scare me. They look as dimented as a little jids nightmares

113.12.2005 07:20

Sorry LA, i just really loved the PSP, my fault....

123.12.2005 07:59

I think they look cool must be annoying for the people and there property BUT there is nothing weird about they and i really doubt Sony is doing it :P

133.12.2005 09:22
Reasons?
Inactive

Sony has more important things to do, don't worry. Damn though, this guy is very creative, I like his work, whether they're on walls or not.

143.12.2005 14:32

i seem to remember something similar when M$ released the xbox, they put stickers all over the place and were ordered to remove them. Seems highly likely that sony is behind this

153.12.2005 14:38
Reasons?
Inactive

Actual graffutu, Sony is not involved. They couldn't afford to be pulled into a legal issue for it.

1613.12.2005 08:11

It's not just in LA either. We have these all over NYC. I thought it was T.A.T.S Crew, but I guess I'm wrong. My favorite is the lollipop.

178.6.2006 11:05
xhardc0re
Inactive

That is very cool artwork, they did a damn good job :)

But I think $ony is ultimately behind it. Most gangs don't...um...paint pictures of videogame characters in their spare time. Does that make any sense what I said?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Sep 2006 @ 5:25

1828.6.2006 13:23

maybe all of you are missing the point. To me, this could be interpreted as a protest against the sony psp. It looks like the person is trying to say that with all this technology distracting us, people are missing out on the "simple pleasures".

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