HBomberguy

@Superdark 33: Looks like we've got another (quite daring, I might add) example of a "reactionary ad", with THQ Nordic hosting an AMA on 8chan. For those unaware, 8chan is best known for being blacklisted by Google for openly hosting child porn (here's a link to an excellent expose made by the one and only Dan Olson - who actually got doxxed because of this a few years ago, the poor man). From what I can tell, the child porn has since been removed, so now they just host loli porn and have boards discussing child rape
They've "apologized" and claimed ignorance:

responses

Hbomb's reaction

8chan is so much worse than being connected to child porn. It's people that were too extreme for 4chan, so it's full of neo-nazis, incels, and so on

...I'm genuinely at a loss as to why anyone would think that's a good idea. Like, a memey 4chan AMA would probably be enough to pander to the right without looking like their marketing department's lost it's mind?

Edited by Hylarn on Feb 26th 2019 at 10:40:50 AM

The difference is that this outrage is more "..... what the fuck THQ? Not gonna touch this company again lol" more than "I am OUTRAGED and ANGRY that this BRAND is VIRTUE SIGNALLING im now going to BREAK EVERYTHING I OWN then BUY ANOTHER TWENTY so i could BREAK them TOO. (Im gonna buy one later tho)".

As far as patterns go, you pander to "SJWS" when you want to pay lip servuce to progressuve ideas and start an outrage by numpties, and you pander to The Right if your product sucks ass and you want to have at least SOME sales to nazis who will virtue signal themselves by buying it. The bottom line is, there are much less nazis around than the internet make it seem like (which is still too many), and regular conservatives arejt on the internet that much.

Edited by Superdark33 on Feb 27th 2019 at 10:56:45 PM

It was really gutted about them doing this, but the more I think about it, it's more residual goodwill towards the original THQ and for Nordic saving some franchises people wanted more of (like Darksiders) but when I actually looked at their catalogue I realised there's basically nothing there I care about. So... turns out I can boycott them without really missing out.

I was also wondering if their alignment with an alt-right space here had anything to do with the fact they're an Austrian company, but then I looked it up and Austria's political situation is kinda normal, it's Hungary that elected Orbán. Still, they're right next door, and I can't help wondering if similar sentiments are common in that region as a whole.

Funny you mentioned that, cause I just saw this on Twitter: both Milo Yiannopoulos and Jordan Peterson on national Australia TV. Yuck

Austria or Australia?

Regarding "woke companies," it is the one situation where I actually do think the term "virtue signalling" applies. They're a brand and their goal is profit, they think that they can profit the most by looking woke. I rarely buy it.

That said, it's still, you know, a good thing. A "fake it 'til you make it" situation. Part of the problem is that we've got this feedback loop of asshole-y behavior. If one side even pretends to break the loop, that's a great thing.

I feel like it's maybe sensible to split it in two. Like, you can think it's a good message but still think 'we said a good thing so you should buy our stuff' is rubbish.

Whoops, my bad. That'd teach me for skimming through texts. Thought it was weird that a company called "Nordic" would be based in Australia

Edited by HottoKenai on Feb 27th 2019 at 11:21:15 PM

For sure.

Their government includes a far-right party, so I wouldn't call it "normal".

One might say the same of the USA. So might be the new normal.

Yeah like... the US is way further right than most of the western world. And our actual right is primarily far-right crackpots. And they're the ones in power.

I don't know Austria but I wish I could say the US government only "included a far right party."

Edited by Larkmarn on Feb 27th 2019 at 4:02:31 AM

About THQ Nordic.

They knew exactly what they were doing. There has been screenshots going around of one anonymous 8chan user asking them if their will be lolis in the game and they respond with You got them already. Another user asked for them to not pander to the SJW crowd and they said Thanks! We'll stay that way.

I wish I was making this up.

Don't believe that they are innocent for this stupidity for a second. Any company with half of brain would of done their research and immediately backed out of this, even before that first dumb question.

Yeah. They are trying to backpedal that they were just agreeing about not censoring their games, and by loli they just meant hot girls, but not really buying it.

Their account also liked a tweet telling them to not listen to the SJ Ws and that the AMA is going great. From a dude whose twitter account is filled with alt right garbage.

Edited by Ghilz on Feb 28th 2019 at 8:30:05 AM

Yeah, I'm not giving them benefit of the doubt on this one.

Hbomb channels Lindsay Ellis to talk about how the (bad) Transformers Movie helped him deal with his existential crisis through nostalgia.

Edited by HottoKenai on Apr 2nd 2019 at 10:16:29 PM

Geez, he was born in the 90's? Guy is Older Than He Looks.

ETA: I meant Younger Than He Looks. But somehow I managed to mistake a word for its exact opposite. For I am a dumb-dumb.

Edited by Larkmarn on Apr 4th 2019 at 4:33:40 AM

Funnily enough, I discovered he went to the same uni as me, though he enrolled a few years after I had left.

How old did you think he was?

In his 30s at least. It may be because he looks almost identical to someone I know who is 35.

He's around 25 I think.

Wouldn't that make him Younger Than He Looks then?

... Jesus Christ. Yes. That. What. Geez.

... I apologize. I will leave my error up there as a tribute to my shame.