In the last few months Sony has made several negative references to the country of Nigeria, and many are criticizing the company for doing so. The references are indirectly related to each other and happened in two seperate divisions of Sony, but occurred so close to one another it became an odd coincidence. The first knock was found within a recent PS3 price cut commercial, where a blogger named Bernie confronts Sony over the $299 price cut. In response, the Sony actor replies, “$299? Bernie you can’t believe everything you read off the Internet. Otherwise I’d be a Nigerian millionaire by now.”
Sony reworked the advertisement, which features no mention of Nigeria, but instead features this line: “You can’t believe everything you read on the internet. That’s how World War I got started.” Great Sony, now you’re going to piss off World War I.
Another offensive portrayal was found in District 9, the summer science-fiction blockbuster about an alien refugee camp in South Africa. The movie is drawing protests from government officials in Nigeria over its portrayal of Nigerians, The Associated Press reported. Dora Akunyili, the country’s information minister, has asked movie houses in Abuja, the nation’s capital, to stop screening the film because it depicts Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals.
“We are not happy about it because it portrays Nigeria in bad light.”
Akunyili said she has asked Sony for an apology and wants them to edit out references to Nigeria and to the name of the main Nigerian gangster Obesandjo, whose name closely resembles that of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We have written to the producer and distributor of the film, Sony Entertainment, expressing our displeasure and demanded an apology,” she said. “We have asked that the areas where Nigeria and Obasanjo are mentioned should be edited from the film.”
