Sony seem to be feeling a bit threatened by the new iPhone and are looking to diversify the handheld’s possible applications in law enforcement. Not really, it’s an advert! Ahahh! From Spanish agency TBWA\ESPANA, the advert shows some young scallywag being restrained by the police using the captivating power of the PSP alone.

Admittedly, the comparison between the image and stance of someone playing a handheld console and a guy handcuffed to a lamppost is pretty clever, a piece of physical comedy made more so by the interplay of the two different kinds of restraint being alluded to, one physical and mental. If you really wanted to read into it you could say that it is also a bit of social commentary on how videogames remove people from mainstream society, like crime.

The ad only really backfires on one front, namely the look on the cop’s face. For some reason he looks confused, like he’s just found the guy there, stuck to a lamppost. A romantic rendezvous gone horribly wrong, maybe?