Manufacturer of phone cases Dbrand is known for its provocative attitude towards users and technology companies. However, this time such behavior played a bad joke on the company and led to a $10,000 payout to a customer as an apology for a racist comment about their surname.
It all started on Tuesday when Dbrand reposted on X (Twitter) a complaint from customer Bhuwan Chitransh, who said that the cover they purchased for their MacBook changed color after just 2 months. In response, Dbrand made a rude comment that rhymed the customer's surname with the word "rash".
“Your surname is essentially a crappy rash, be serious”
Later, Chitransh responded, saying that Dbrand's post reflected its racist view towards Indian customers.
The next day, the company stated that it made a "big mistake". Dbrand wrote that it apologized to Chitransh and offered him $10,000 "as a goodwill gesture". The company also stated that it will continue to mock customers in the future.
Well that escalated quickly.
1. Yes — we made fun of a guy's name. It was a huge fumble.
2. We apologized to him directly and offered him $10,000 as a gesture of goodwill.
3. We've been poking fun at customers on social media for over a decade now. We're not going to stop, but…
— dbrand (@dbrand) April 10, 2024
However, Dbrand did not delete the original post until well-known tech blogger Marques Brownlee made a statement that it caused "unnecessary" harm.
@dbrand Won't be working with dbrand until that original tweet is deleted, at least. You're allowed to make shitty jokes, but the internet has made it pretty clear what it think about this one, and the harm from it is unnecessary
I've been around long enough to see a LOT of…
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 11, 2024
“I won't be working with dbrand, at least until that original tweet is deleted”, said Brownlee. “You're allowed to make shitty jokes, but the internet has made it pretty clear what it think about this one, and the harm from it is unnecessary”.
Dbrand deleted the post a few hours later, admitting that it "created a platform for hate". In response, Brownlee, who had worked with Dbrand on a line of device skins, said "it's nice to see you back" after the company removed its offensive post.
Dbrand CEO Adam Ejaz stated that the comment was a "serious error in judgment", adding that Brownlee's support helped the company "reconsider" the comment.
Source: The Verge
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