So Apple released a new batch of emoji icons recently, featuring a slew of new icons, like a smiling pile of sh*t, for people to use to express themselves. Clorox decided it was the perfect time to attach itself to some of the trending action out there, so their Twitter account sent out the following:
Now that’s a pretty odd thing to Tweet, I think we can all agree. The real problem doesn’t appear until you connect it to the fact that a collection of racially diverse emoji were included in the latest release.
This prompted outrage, with many calling out the cleaning giant for being racially insensitive or wanting to “white out” the color of their customer’s skin. This forced Clorox to release an apology to clarify their original Tweet, but it didn’t stop the outrage.
Wish we could bleach away our last tweet. Didn't mean to offend – it was meant to be about all the 🚽🛁🍷emojis that could use a clean up.
— Clorox (@Clorox) April 9, 2015
Now if you agree that this is an offensive message that honestly took into account the racial makeup within a series of chat icons, you’re probably not going to like this post.
Clorox’s message is very stupid, but not due to whatever outrage manifested from its existence. It’s easy to understand why they did it in terms of marketing, but the message is silly and confusing. Who cares about a bleach emoji? It’s the confusion that allows for the controversy to exist in the first place because some folks need an explanation for why it happened.
https://twitter.com/DriNicole/status/585961883083091968
The apology/explanation manages to make it worse since they didn’t delete the original tweet and it continues the original, silly narrative proposed at the start.
The controversy only makes that fact clearer and shows that the populace is ready with a knee jerk reaction to any situation. There are plenty of real, topical examples of racism out there day-to-day, but it’s Clorox bleach that draws ire with their silly marketing campaign. How does that make sense?
It’s a situation that highlights a lot of issues with the Internet and how it is utilized at all ends. Clorox and other “brands” should keep a closer eye on what gets sent out into the public wilds. At the same time, people should always take a step back and try to look at a situation rationally. If you can hold back for silliness like this, it doesn’t hamper the message when something with a bit more gravity waltzes into the public arena.
The only way it can be worse if when some folks decides to start a crowdfunding page for Clorox to show their support. Countless barren grocery aisles due to patrons out to support Clorox’s right to free speech, showing those SJWs what for!
What an existence!