Gaming brand Vertagear issues grovelling apology for ‘painful’ pattern of misogynistic tweets
Vertagear.
Gaming chair brand Vertagear has apologised for a misogynistic tweet shared on their socials.
The now-deleted tweet played on a sexist joke about male vs female streamers.
It featured two images: the first a male streamer with a large game screen and their camera in the corner, the second a female streamer with the image sizes reversed.
“Is this accurate?” posed the tweet. The answer is no, obviously.
The tweet was soon deleted, but went viral through screen captures.
You deleted it, but you can't pretend that wasn't tweeted @Vertagear.
You owe the women in the industry a major apology. pic.twitter.com/tQkwhybIlh
— MissHenley (@MissHenleyTV) July 19, 2021
Hey if any streamers are giving this sexist company free advertising by sitting in their chairs might wanna remove the Vertagear logo. pic.twitter.com/QnkjJCiavj— Lowco (@LowcoTV) July 19, 2021
Gamers were also quick to criticise the rest of the Vertagear Twitter account.
a hidden gem in this "vertagear tweeted a sexist meme" debacle is the fact that their WHOLE FEED is off the rails pic.twitter.com/ajL6DoifSk— harley mayfield (@breadwitchery) July 19, 2021
Tell me your social media manager's a misogynist without telling me your social media manager's a misogynist.(but wait, there's more! 🧵) pic.twitter.com/c4LDmuP9Dr— Laura Hirsbrunner 🍉 😷 (@laura_hirsb) July 19, 2021
Vertagear has since released a statement apologising for the tweet.
“We’ve always wanted to keep things interesting and fun on social media for our fans,” it reads. “Discrimination and bias are the opposite of what we want to create, and they completely jeopardise the values we stand for.
“Unfortunately, we were slow to see the mistakes being made and have hurt many people with a recent tweet that we made.
“We take full responsibility for the pain that it has caused to members of our community.”
— VERTAGEAR (@Vertagear) July 19, 2021
It goes on to explain that measures have been taken to create clearer guidelines for their social output and they promise to be more sensitive in future.
“Every aspect of the way we generate or source content in the future will be reviewed to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to stop discrimination and bias,” it reads.
A second statement has also been released, further apologising and noting that the individual responsible for the tweets is no longer with the company.
“Unfortunately, over the years, our social media content has on multiple occasions included similar language and themes, which is a pattern we are certainly not proud of and need to rectify immediately to be more respectful of not only the gaming community, but everyone,” it reads.
“Vertagear strives to create a more inclusive platform, work environment and social media presence and will be instituting several additional protocols moving forward to ensure that these new standards are upheld.”
Our Sincerest Apologies. pic.twitter.com/mJV3v5MVZ1— VERTAGEAR (@Vertagear) July 19, 2021
Still, some people are asking streamers to not use Vertagear chairs or to cover up logos in their streams. Others have vowed to not buy their products.
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