LogicDonny
04-30-2007, 09:54 PM
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/784/784404p1.html
Sony has come under heavy fire from UK newspaper The Mail on Sunday for having a decapitated goat as the centrepiece of a European launch party for God of War II.
Under the headline and intro "Slaughter: Horror at Sony's depraved promotion stunt with decapitated goat", the newspaper went on to lambast the company, saying the event had "sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry".
Although the Mail on Sunday claimed that at the event in Athens, guests were invited to reach inside the goat's still-warm carcass, pulling out and eating meat they were told was the goat's intestines, Sony has since clarified exactly what happened.
A European spokesperson said: "The 'warm entrails' referred to in the invitation and in the Mail on Sunday article was actually a meat soup, made to a traditional Greek recipe and served to attendees in china bowls direct from the caterers. There was never any question of journalists being able to touch the goat, or indeed eat the soup direct from the body of the goat, as one report has alleged. The goat was returned to the butcher at the end of the event."
Sony's Official PlayStation Magazine carried a double-page feature on the event, along with photos of the goat's carcass and topless women, who were on-hand to drop grapes into the mouths of guests. 80,000 copies of the magazine - which was due to go on sale this week - have now been recalled by Sony so the offending feature can be removed.
Sony said the article had been written by a journalist that didn't attend the event and was actually based upon a press release. The article was "done on the basis of the invitation for the event which employed a degree of hyperbole in order to encourage attendance - the journalist chose to take it as fact" explained a spokesperson.
"We recognise that the use of a dead goat was in poor taste and fell below the high standards of conduct we set ourselves," admitted the Sony spokesperson while apologising to readers of OPM who may have been offended. The company is currently conducting an internal enquiry into the event.
Sony has come under heavy fire from UK newspaper The Mail on Sunday for having a decapitated goat as the centrepiece of a European launch party for God of War II.
Under the headline and intro "Slaughter: Horror at Sony's depraved promotion stunt with decapitated goat", the newspaper went on to lambast the company, saying the event had "sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry".
Although the Mail on Sunday claimed that at the event in Athens, guests were invited to reach inside the goat's still-warm carcass, pulling out and eating meat they were told was the goat's intestines, Sony has since clarified exactly what happened.
A European spokesperson said: "The 'warm entrails' referred to in the invitation and in the Mail on Sunday article was actually a meat soup, made to a traditional Greek recipe and served to attendees in china bowls direct from the caterers. There was never any question of journalists being able to touch the goat, or indeed eat the soup direct from the body of the goat, as one report has alleged. The goat was returned to the butcher at the end of the event."
Sony's Official PlayStation Magazine carried a double-page feature on the event, along with photos of the goat's carcass and topless women, who were on-hand to drop grapes into the mouths of guests. 80,000 copies of the magazine - which was due to go on sale this week - have now been recalled by Sony so the offending feature can be removed.
Sony said the article had been written by a journalist that didn't attend the event and was actually based upon a press release. The article was "done on the basis of the invitation for the event which employed a degree of hyperbole in order to encourage attendance - the journalist chose to take it as fact" explained a spokesperson.
"We recognise that the use of a dead goat was in poor taste and fell below the high standards of conduct we set ourselves," admitted the Sony spokesperson while apologising to readers of OPM who may have been offended. The company is currently conducting an internal enquiry into the event.