• NY Times, Monday, December 12, 2005 11:30 AM

Viral marketing techniques are all the rage, but they can be tricky. Just ask Sony Computer Entertainment, whose use of a viral marketing campaign that uses graffiti to push its PlayStation Portable video game console might be backfiring. The effort involves hiring local artists to spray-paint ads on outdoor spaces (which Sony has paid for) in urban areas. The ads are graffiti-like illustrations of kids playing with the hand-held PSP unit. But critics on blogs and other Internet sites say the campaign uses a grass-roots art form solely for commercial purposes. "Stop cynically exploiting graffiti artists, for profit!" wrote one signer of an online petition asking Sony to cease its activities, while another declared, "I will never buy a Sony product again." The petition, started by Jake Dobkin, a co-founder of Gothamist, a Web site about New York, has received 46 signatures. Molly Smith, a spokeswoman for Sony, said the company "certainly did not intend to offend. It's not meant to be provocative." She added that the campaign was aimed at urban nomads who like their entertainment on the go. The street art is part of an advertising strategy begun in mid-November that also features television, print and online marketing efforts.

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