The Gravensteen and the Book Tower were used to advertise the PlayStation 5 game console. However, manufacturer Sony had not requested this. The City of Ghent is not amused: ‘If this doesn’t stop, we will take action.’
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Gamers have had to wait for it for years, but since Thursday the PlayStation 5 has been available in our country. In order to market this game console well, the Sony company has made illuminated advertising on monuments in various cities. In Ghent, this happened on Wednesday evening on the Gravensteen and the Boekentoren.
The City of Ghent was not set up with that. ‘We have an atmospheric and tasteful lighting plan that is admired far beyond our borders. We cannot afford to have flashy advertising on our buildings. Moreover, it was not applied for, ‘says authorized ships Filip Watteeuw (Groen).
Take action
Watteeuw will contact Sony and emphasize that this type of advertising is not worth repeating. If it doesn’t stop, we will take further action. What that might be, I have to discuss with the relevant services. In the past we have always been able to keep this type of advertising under control and it should remain that way. ‘
Ghent University also does not want commercial advertising on its buildings. “We were not informed in advance,” says spokeswoman Tine Diture. ‘As soon as we were informed that projections were being carried out on the Book Tower, we stopped the campaign. We did not consent to Sony and will not allow the Book Tower to be used for such commercial campaigns in the future. Playful or not, this is not worth repeating. ‘
In our country, the campaign was carried out by the Antwerp advertising agency TBWA. No one is available for comment there for the time being.
London Underground
The launch in London in the United Kingdom did not go unnoticed either. Oxford Circus, one of the busiest stations on the London Underground, was given the symbols of the Playstation controllers. Other stations were given the name of a game, such as Lancaster Gate that became Ratchet and Clankaster Gate. This was done in consultation with Transport for London, which organizes public transport in the city. The promotion lasted 48 hours.
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