Sony 'cashes in' on Iraq war

[Ioman]

"SCEA has registered the phrase "Shock and Awe" as a trademark in the USA and plans to launch an online game for the PS2 using the title.

The registration of the phrase, which is reported in British online news service MediaGuardian, took place on March 21st, one day after the war started. The phrase was used by the American government to describe the saturation bombing of Baghdad on the second night of the war."

http://news.designtechnica.com/article198.html

Then the withdrew from using the "Shock and Awe" campaign:
http://news.designtechnica.com/article225.html

Thoughts?

[llbbl]

I am in "shock and awe" at the gall of some people trying to make money off anything that they can :D j/k

[Ioman]

Originally posted by TecknoGeek
I am in "shock and awe" at the gall of some people trying to make money off anything that they can :D j/k

Remember when the Space Shuttle crashed this year? People were selling parts of it on eBay even though it was a federal offense. Have we all become immune to what is going on around us? Everything is not a movie or a video game...

[Fitch]

Maybe thats why video games and movies are bad cause it desensitizes us?

Prepares for the bashing.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Fitch
Maybe thats why video games and movies are bad cause it desensitizes us?

Prepares for the bashing.

I don't think there will be any flame here....I completely agree with you. I think that when it comes to corporate ethics, Sony should certainly know better by now though.

[llbbl]

Originally posted by Fitch
Maybe thats why video games and movies are bad cause it desensitizes us?

Prepares for the bashing.

I think there are games out there that do just the opposite. Sure any of your 3D action or RTS this might apply, but not ALL video games are desensitizing.

[Digital Wanksta]

Yea, I have Iraqi playing cards for sell, like you see on the news and stuff.. I put a deck of them on E-bay, and when I was completing the submission, it said if I was trying to sell something form Iraq, please refrain from doing so and all this crap.. I never laughed so hard in my life :)

[Cogar]

On one hand, they are displaying an astounding lack of originality. On the other hand, in today's society, I can imagine some opportunist tradmarking "Shock and Awe" and then suing any movie maker, game company, or whoever that uses "his slogan." For this reason, it does make sense for a company to register such names just to protect themselves. For example, Quake II was originally going to have another name, but Id was afraid of being sued for using the new name. Therefore, since they already owned "Quake," they used "Quake II" even though the games did not resemble one another.

[Ioman]

I think that this whole incident backfired in Sony's face as I have heard nothing else about this other than their original announcement. Still, it was an incredibly stupid move on Sony's behalf.