A week ago, the PR and Marketing department of THQ Nordic incurred in a major misstep when it decided to take part in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on the website 8chan, which is widely disapproved for its content (which includes underage pornography and more) and even got blacklisted by some Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The AMA didn't last long due to the immediate backlash the publisher got, with PR and Marketing Director Philipp Brock apologizing on Twitter.
"I personally agreed to this AMA without doing my proper due diligence to understand the history and the controversy of the site. I do not condone child pornography, white supremacy, or racism in any shape or form. (...)
— THQNordic (@THQNordic) February 26, 2019
This was not about being edgy, this blew up and I very much regret to have done it in the first place."
Philipp Brock, PR & Marketing Director THQ Nordic GmbH (Vienna, Austria)
— THQNordic (@THQNordic) February 26, 2019
Today, THQ Nordic CEO issued an apology of his own via press release, addressing the following letter to customers, partners and employees.
This letter is to offer my sincerest apologies and regret for THQ Nordic GmbH Vienna’s interaction with the controversial website 8chan last Tuesday, February 26. I condemn all unethical content this website stands for. Even if no one within the THQ Nordic Group would ever endorse such content, I realize simply appearing there gave an implicit impression that we did.
As Co-Founder and Group CEO of THQ Nordic AB, I take full responsibility for all of THQ Nordic GmbH‘s actions and communications. I have spent the past several days conducting an internal investigation into this matter. I assure you that every member of the organization has learned from this past week’s events. I take this matter very seriously and we will take appropriate action to make sure we have the right policies and systems in place to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
As a Swedish based, fast growing group, we firmly support equality and diversity. We are also working actively to combat discrimination, harassment, and misconduct. We are alreadyin the process of developing new work processes, based on the United Nations’ SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and using the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standards, and we will accelerate this work going forward.
Did this wrong move by THQ Nordic's PR and Marketing affect the company's perception and brand value, in your opinion? Tell us in the comments.
