Comments on: [TW] Way to miss the point, Geek Chic Cosmetics (updated)

By: Linkspammers of Catan (first fortnight of April linkspam) | Geek Feminism Blog

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 10:30:02 +0000

[...] Decoding Dragons on an issue with Geek Chic Cosmetics. Disappointing a few customers who like a pun is not the same as being respectful of your customer base at large and the issues that face women everywhere….The context doesn’t obscure or render it neutral and harmless. [...]

By: Lani

Lani — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:34:21 +0000

Yes I did just read their apology and was actually pretty impressed. It’s rare that people “get it” so quickly. Sucks that they went the defensive route to begin with, but the quick apology and realization that it was a bad knee-jerk reaction on their parts is definitely a mark in their favor, in my humble opinion.

By: Pewter

Pewter — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:19:51 +0000

Hopefully their rather long apology will make you less hesitant It does seem like they finally GOT the criticisms that were levelled at them

By: Pewter

Pewter — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:11:58 +0000

Happily in the space of the last few hours they've posted a very good apology, so they're clawing back some credibility in terms of learning from their mistakes. It's not pleasant or good that such a kerfuffle had to happen in order for someone to learn some valuable lessons about customer relations (and doing right for the company in terms of sales vs protecting the image of the brand.)

By: Matojo (@furiey)

Matojo (@furiey) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:20:07 +0000

This is a great example of how not to communicate with your customers and potential customers, as well as customers that you had until they realized that your company was condoning something terrible.

Thanks for this post, especially with the links to a similar thing done well, and explanations of what folks are talking about.

It’s really disappointing that this company is so bloody dense about this whole thing, hopefully they learn something from it that isn’t just “PEOPLE ARE SO MEEN” — which is really not the case.

By: Lani

Lani — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:02:51 +0000

This is super disappointing to me. I’ve followed GCC practically since they first opened, and I’ve always loved the concept and the products. I’m really, really sad that they acted like this, and it does make me hesitant about purchasing from them in the future.

By: Pewter

Pewter — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:58:40 +0000

Those are definitely better references

By: Pewter

Pewter — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:58:04 +0000

Well, their twitter stream has gone through various stages, from ‘don’t be so angry’ to ‘you’re being mean’ to ‘we didn’t expect this amount of backlash’ so I’m guessing someone is realising the damage it was doing.

By: Strigine

Strigine — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:49:34 +0000

And now the poll doesn’t appear to be working? At least I can’t find any mechanism by which to vote. I posted a comment to that effect, and telling them I will never purchase from them unless they get their act together.

By: Katharine

Katharine — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:32:55 +0000

Thank you for posting about this, I think it pretty much sums up what I wanted to say on the subject too!

Some of the comments are horrible. I actually don’t feel safe to engage with them, even though I badly want to point out how they exemplify the problems of rape culture (e.g. the comment that consent can be implied by orgasm, or the confusion between hentai and the rape focussed sub-genre in question). Also, the implication that people who don’t like it are just not cultured enough to get it is absolutely sickening (especially from someone who cites a definition of erotica to defend a joke about rape – OMG THEY ARE NOT THE SAME).

Complete and utter facepalm.

Also, it’s not even a particularly cool or original geek reference. Hardly the otaku level they are trying to claim. ‘Purple Marauder’ or ‘Grape of Death’ would have been way cooler.