As an Xbox gamer, this is an email I actually received, and thought not much of it: The email, entitled “GGGGGRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH” somehow, in some way, offended people! Okay, more correctly, apparently there was a version that used the text “NNNNNGGGGHHHHAAAAAA”
My particular copy of this email.
In either case this is an innocuous advert for a zombie game which just happens to have a holiday theme of singing zombies tied to it.
Due to the title that some received, “NNNNNGGGGHHHHAAAAAA”, some people thought that, since the letters can be pronounced in such a way together as to sound like a racial slur, then it must be one, right?
Are. You. Fucking. Serious? It’s just a typeout of one of many variants of the sounds zombies make in films, games, etc. That’s it, nothing more. The email is themed using singing zombies to advertise the game. It all makes sense,and unless depictions of the undead are against your religion or something similar, nothing in this email is offensive in the slightest.
Even Xbox PR frontman Major Nelson apologized for it:
Today we sent a DR4 email where a zombie roar was interpreted by many as a racial slur. We apologize and promise to do better next time.
— Larry Hryb, Gamer Emeritus ⌨️🖱️🎮 (@majornelson) November 22, 2016
I’m fucking amazed, and I’m not the only one. Here, in this video which alerted me to this even being an issue, Rich of ReviewTechUSA shares his thoughts, which as you can expect, are in line with mine.
Fucking amazing!