Of Clorox and Wimps

[fm93]

So let me ask you some questions, as someone who never even heard of an "emoji" before this.

1) You say maybe, "people thought the image was showing every new emoji..." Exactly how many of these new emojis were introduced in this update of whatever it is? 100? 200?

2) Was it really all of them used in this image produced by Clorox -- except the racially diverse ones? Who counted and made the comparison, and put it on record? Can't have been all of them, though, you say the toilet and wine and bathtub ones are missing, how many more are?

3) How did Clorox create the image? Did they cut and paste from a premade field of these icons? Or did they select one of them at a time to create the bottle shape?

I live in the technological Stone Age and don't own any Apple products, so I only heard through the grapevine that Apple had recently released some new emojis that included racially diverse faces...no word on how many or what other types there were. When I saw the image for the first time, my initial thought was that it was just a fancy display of the new ones, and then it occurred to me that some people might've also thought that and assumed that Clorox was hinting at bleaching out the faces.

When should the license to comment have expired? I see people have continued to comment on this, even make YT videos, since AP made this post.

No specific time limit. I'm just a bit puzzled by the reaction I'm seeing. I'm reminded of a slightly plump teacher who chaperoned a field trip to the local aquarium and was absent-mindedly checking something on her phone when a group of kids exclaimed, "Ha, look at that whale over there!" and pointed in her direction. She thought they were making fun of her weight, but when confronted they just explained that they were pointing to the goofy-looking beluga whale in the exhibit that she'd been standing in front of. Everyone had a good laugh at the innocent misunderstanding and the incident died right there. I can't imagine that anyone at the aquarium would've written a lengthy blog post entitled "Of Whales and Wimps" with commenters bemoaning "victim culture" and "being too easily offended" or whatever.

[Zymologist]

I live in the technological Stone Age and don't own any Apple products

We're better for it, man.

[Irate Canadian]

I can't imagine that anyone at the aquarium would've written a lengthy blog post entitled "Of Whales and Wimps" with commenters bemoaning "victim culture" and "being too easily offended" or whatever.

The thing is, fm, I agree with you. No one there at the aquariam would have complained. But what Nick's trying to get at is that there is a bias to always assume the worst on the Internet. Think about it this way: would Clorox have anything to gain by offending POC's? It would be a horrible racist attempt and they would lose business.

[fm93]

what Nick's trying to get at is that there is a bias to always assume the worst on the Internet.

Oh yeah, definitely. It's easy to jump to conclusions and think that people might be nasty when one's only interacting with a name on a digital screen.

Think about it this way: would Clorox have anything to gain by offending POC's? It would be a horrible racist attempt and they would lose business.

That's a good point that some people who initially misunderstood probably should've considered. But I think it's worth noting, though, that some of the people who are complaining about the people who complained are engaging in the aforementioned behavior itself--simply dismissing those who misunderstood as being the equivalent of "loony conspiracy theorists" seems more than a bit ungracious, I'd say.

[Raphael]

I live in the technological Stone Age and don't own any Apple products

I'm a computer geek with a number of shiny toys, i refuse to own any apple products

[JonathanL]

I'm a computer geek with a number of shiny toys, i refuse to own any apple products

ECREE, there's no way DDW would have handed ownership of TWeb over to anyone who rejects apple products.

[Paprika]

simply dismissing those who misunderstood as being the equivalent of "loony conspiracy theorists" seems more than a bit ungracious, I'd say.

Chrawnus has made a good first step. However, the hypersensitive mob are hardly mere "conspiracy theorists" - it has platforms and enough social power to bash large companies into apologising when no wrong was committed, and attacks on groups or individuals will keep on happening as progressivism gradually rules more and more types of speech out of bounds.

[Raphael]

ECREE, there's no way DDW would have handed ownership of TWeb over to anyone who rejects apple products.

I don't even have an iTunes account. (I buy my digital music from Google Play)

[jpholding]

That's fine. But those are all questions the original complainer should have asked before complaining, rather than automatically assuming the most offensive intentions and then going public with them.

And I'm not even going into how nonsensical a racist reading of the graphic is from a strictly artistic point of view. If it had been made up of the dark-skinned emojis....yes, that would be pretty clearly a signal of racism. As it is, it takes a tremendous strain to find it there.

No specific time limit. I'm just a bit puzzled by the reaction I'm seeing.

I suspect many people are concerned that their own business will someday be attacked by someone with similarly uninformed complaints. It would be nice if a good laugh could be had, but losing one's livelihood, even the prospect of it, is no laughing matter, and in the digital age, that can happen overnight while you sleep. The original complainer didn't care whose lives they ruined by complaining thoughtlessly. True Clorox is a big brand, it won't hurt them, but suppose it had been Joe's Corner Grill? Would the complainer apologize, pay Joe's bills, start a gofundme page for Joe to make up for their error?

If you're going to complain in a way the world can see, you'd better do it responsibly and not knee-jerk.

[jpholding]

I would further add that I chose this example for a reason:

Many people complained about the bright yellow skin tone in the new emojis. “Apple rolling out new racially diverse emoji! Not sure how I’m feeling about these ultra-yellow Asian emoji,” tweeted Yurie Kwon, an associate account executive at SutherlandGold Group. The yellow emoji would be offensive if it was were to represent Asians, but it is not supposed to be viewed as an Asian person.

The yellow emoji has been a standard hue for icons for years and represents a “generic (nonhuman)” default, according to The Washington Post. Before Apple started supporting the digital images, even the earliest emojis in the 90’s included in Japanese messaging programs and AOL AOL -0.8% Instant Messenger used yellow faces. The yellow face emojis seem to trace back to the iconic yellow smiley face designed by Harvey Ball BLL +0.17% in the 60′s that said “have a nice day.”

Kwon didn't offer an angry complaint like the one that's the subject here, but the error made is the same sort. Kwon should have done the research and found out what is explained in the second paragraph, before complaining. Instead, Kwon started with a supposition, and even gratuitously added to that supposition to support it: Eg, the bright yellow color obviously could not represent real Asian skin, so Kwon propped up the assumption by assuming further that it must have been an "ultra-yellow" variation of an intended racial slur.

This sort of thing is no more responsible than Hislop's revisionist readings against Catholicism.

[One Bad Pig]

ECREE, there's no way DDW would have handed ownership of TWeb over to anyone who rejects apple products.

I refuse to buy any apple products (I have an ipod nano that I got as a raffle prize at work ).

[jpholding]

I refuse to buy any apple products (I have an ipod nano that I got as a raffle prize at work ).

I have to use an iPad for my USDA job. All the ministry computers have been Dells with Microsoft stuff.

I honestly don't see what the big deal is either way. They both do what they do.

[JonathanL]

I have to use an iPad for my USDA job. All the ministry computers have been Dells with Microsoft stuff.

I honestly don't see what the big deal is either way. They both do what they do.

I'd say it's mostly the fact that Apple products cost way more than what they're actually worth, simply because of the brand.

[Darth Executor]

But I think it's worth noting, though, that some of the people who are complaining about the people who complained are engaging in the aforementioned behavior itself--simply dismissing those who misunderstood as being the equivalent of "loony conspiracy theorists" seems more than a bit ungracious, I'd say.

No quarter should be given to people who falsely cry racism, no matter how innocent their intentions (which they rarely are, and most certainly were not in this case).

[jpholding]

I'd say it's mostly the fact that Apple products cost way more than what they're actually worth, simply because of the brand.

Well, I guess I couldn't know since the US government paid for my iPad.