"The right wing ideology is part of my cultural and historical heritage. As a Swiss, I am fully aware of both its history and the sensitivities surrounding it.
…
As a Swiss, I have every reason to treat this history with seriousness and respect. Precisely because of that, I reject any suggestion that this promotion carried an extremist message. It did not."
I’ll never forget this shit, such ass response from GOG
Imo it’s even odds between some marketing child-left-behind googling “Slavic runes” to add to their email, and some 4channer on the team thinking they’re making a funny joke. The fact that they recognized the issue enough to know that couldn’t send the email in Germany, but sent it everywhere else anyway, makes me lean a little bit more toward the latter
I’m confused. I have Scandinavian ancestry and understand that some of the cultural identity was appropriated by Nazis and now some extremist fuck wits. e.g. how the Hindu swastika (also often confused with sauvastika) was appropriated. But I don’t understand why that means appropriated symbols automatically = bad if they’re used in their original context?
The main issue is that ϟϟ was both totally irrelevant to the topic besides being vaguely Slavic, and also literally the logo for the SS. In the modern day, that is its only connotation. It’s not in its original context, it’s just random runes thrown together
I’m asking both specifically about the GOG thing but also more generally. Yes, I know the SS appropriated runes for tgwit logo but I still don’t see how that automatically makes runes themselves bad. I can understand how it would be triggering for some folks and so a level of sensitivity is required (which GOG clearly failed on) but I still don’t get how appropriated symbols automatically = bad (because I’ve seen the same reactions to other ancient symbols over and over again and I’m still trying to understand it)
It’s bad because the SS appropriated it and stripped all other meaning from it. It’s like using the number 1488 in a username. It only means one thing, and while it’s possible to stumble into it by accident, it remains a white supremacist dogwhistle
So if someone made an account 20 years ago ending with 88, like say if you were born in 1988, should they now delete their account just because someone might misconstrue it as a completely unrelated “dogwhistle”?
As you’ve pointed out, there is an innocent explanation for someone using 88. It could be an honest mistake, there are people (usually whites who aren’t endangered by Nazi ideology) that aren’t tuned-in enough to know about common Nazi dogwhistles.
There’s no honest mistake in using the double sowilo runes. No innocent explanation.
There’s no misconstruing, 1488 is a nazi dogwhistle whether someone intends it to be or not. If your username includes that number, you should delete that account and make a different one, because people are gonna treat you like a nazi.
Just using 88 is slightly less unacceptable, but the same thing applies; if your username includes that number, people are going to treat you like you’re a nazi.
ϟϟ has exactly one meaning in the modern day. You can use those runes without knowing that meaning, but that meaning is still there. It is nazi symbolism whether you intend your use of it to be or not.
I didn’t see news covering this shit but almost everyone subscribed in their newsletter receive an advertising for a game and the the e-mail subject contained nazi symbols. GOG response was the most idiotic thing possible.
Take notes, GOG.
GOG in this situation: Block the video for everyone speaking French.
But let’s see if Proton actually stop this shit with other right wing weirdos or will just stop the sponsorship with this one dude.
For sure. I’m suspicious of Proton, though they clearly have a better PR staff. Low bar compared to GOG’s recent self-own.
Nah this is what peak PR looks like:
"The right wing ideology is part of my cultural and historical heritage. As a Swiss, I am fully aware of both its history and the sensitivities surrounding it.
…
As a Swiss, I have every reason to treat this history with seriousness and respect. Precisely because of that, I reject any suggestion that this promotion carried an extremist message. It did not."
I’ll never forget this shit, such ass response from GOG
Fill me in, what have GOG done? Please link to trustworthy source(s).
Sent a newsletter to half their customers containing “Slavic runes” (literally the logo for the SS) to promote some Slavic fantasy game
Blue text
Imo it’s even odds between some marketing child-left-behind googling “Slavic runes” to add to their email, and some 4channer on the team thinking they’re making a funny joke. The fact that they recognized the issue enough to know that couldn’t send the email in Germany, but sent it everywhere else anyway, makes me lean a little bit more toward the latter
I’m confused. I have Scandinavian ancestry and understand that some of the cultural identity was appropriated by Nazis and now some extremist fuck wits. e.g. how the Hindu swastika (also often confused with sauvastika) was appropriated. But I don’t understand why that means appropriated symbols automatically = bad if they’re used in their original context?
The main issue is that
ϟϟwas both totally irrelevant to the topic besides being vaguely Slavic, and also literally the logo for the SS. In the modern day, that is its only connotation. It’s not in its original context, it’s just random runes thrown togetherI’m asking both specifically about the GOG thing but also more generally. Yes, I know the SS appropriated runes for tgwit logo but I still don’t see how that automatically makes runes themselves bad. I can understand how it would be triggering for some folks and so a level of sensitivity is required (which GOG clearly failed on) but I still don’t get how appropriated symbols automatically = bad (because I’ve seen the same reactions to other ancient symbols over and over again and I’m still trying to understand it)
Because they used the ϟ rune twice. When used like that, it only has one meaning.
It’s bad because the SS appropriated it and stripped all other meaning from it. It’s like using the number 1488 in a username. It only means one thing, and while it’s possible to stumble into it by accident, it remains a white supremacist dogwhistle
So if someone made an account 20 years ago ending with 88, like say if you were born in 1988, should they now delete their account just because someone might misconstrue it as a completely unrelated “dogwhistle”?
20 years ago 88 was as much of a nazi dogwhistle as it is today
Okay, but lets compare this to using runes.
As you’ve pointed out, there is an innocent explanation for someone using 88. It could be an honest mistake, there are people (usually whites who aren’t endangered by Nazi ideology) that aren’t tuned-in enough to know about common Nazi dogwhistles.
There’s no honest mistake in using the double sowilo runes. No innocent explanation.
There’s no misconstruing, 1488 is a nazi dogwhistle whether someone intends it to be or not. If your username includes that number, you should delete that account and make a different one, because people are gonna treat you like a nazi.
Just using 88 is slightly less unacceptable, but the same thing applies; if your username includes that number, people are going to treat you like you’re a nazi.
ϟϟhas exactly one meaning in the modern day. You can use those runes without knowing that meaning, but that meaning is still there. It is nazi symbolism whether you intend your use of it to be or not.Aha. That news. Thanks for the reminder.
I didn’t see news covering this shit but almost everyone subscribed in their newsletter receive an advertising for a game and the the e-mail subject contained nazi symbols. GOG response was the most idiotic thing possible.
https://redlib.nadeko.net/r/gog/comments/1txlz7z/comment/opxsir6
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/weird_subject_line_choice_for_a_newsletter
Wtf… What did gog do??