Nintendo is double-matching staff donations to the Black Lives Matter Movement, also has stayed silent all day #BlackoutTuesday

[Software Update]

What a ridiculous way to think of this. They're actually opening their checkbook and acting in support, what, do you think Blizzard are better in this situation because they put out a white text black background statement whilst doing nothing to support black people, and indeed actively support oppression? GTFO here with that crap, actions mean more than words. Nintendo at the company level has never made public political statements on anything. The fact that they aren't making a big PR thing out of this is positive, they're letting actions speak.

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What? I don't believe anything Blizzard says. After all these years of talking about their values, Blizzard showed us where their values really lay with their response to Blitzchung.

Give me proof and I'll give Nintendo praise. I don't know why that's unreasonable. It still would be concerning if Nintendo refused to say something on the issue. Not making political statements isn't a good excuse. Silence is compliance.

But they deleted the tweet because they didn't want the attention the tweet was getting, it's very possible Nintendo didn't want people to know about this because if Nintendo flaunts "We are double matching employees" it makes them look less real about it.

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Or they're lying. Or they realized they were wrong. Who knows? Nintendo making a statement about it only makes it seem credible. Not less. Also, "silence is compliance".

You can not believe it without dismissing the experience of the employee or questioning how much they know their own company, and you can also believe that they are in fact doing this without patting them on the back. The latter part is hard, because everyone wants to do that for all of them.

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What evidence? I haven't even seen this tweet.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

What evidence? I haven't even seen this tweet.

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The tweet was "Good to work for a good company, they're double matching all my donations".

 

[Meelow]

What? I don't believe anything Blizzard says. After all these years of talking about their values, Blizzard showed us where their values really lay with their response to Blitzchung.

Give me proof and I'll give Nintendo praise. I don't know why that's unreasonable. It still would be concerning if Nintendo refused to say something on the issue. Not making political statements isn't a good excuse. Silence is compliance.

Or they're lying. Or they realized they were wrong. Who knows? Nintendo making a statement about it only makes it seem credible. Not less. Also, "silence is compliance".

What evidence? I haven't even seen this tweet.

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I don't know what else to tell you, a Nintendo employee said that "It's good to work for a company that is double matching my donations"

I don't know how you "Mistake that" but there's no point in arguing with you about this.

 

[Kuma]

That is their policy for years and it is nothing new. Don't try to pass this as if they are doing something for BLM.

If anything, people asking for this new thread and you posting just shows how branding makes people be on the side of companies, and how much it matters for them to take a real stance.

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It speaks volumes the constant hand waiving that company gets on here. Weird considering they dont actually care about PoC

 

[Xita]

I think at this point, Era won't be happy even if they did say something as already I've seen people say it's too late for them to post support now without it looking like a PR Stunt or that they were forced to do it by everyone else.

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Better late than never, but they've had plenty of time to speak out at this point and haven't said anything. I'm not shedding tears for poor Nintendo here.

 

[Software Update]

The tweet was "Good to work for a good company, they're double matching all of my donations".

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I don't know what else to tell you, a Nintendo employee said that "It's good to work for a company that is double matching my donations"

I don't know how you "Mistake that" but there's no point in arguing with you about this.

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With how readily everyone is defending this, I thought there would be much more to it.

What would you say if I insist that there's yet another deleted tweet from yet another Nintendo employee showing that Nintendo actually only single matched employees' donations? You wouldn't believe me, right?

Refusing to put out a statement is a bad look anyway. It doesn't cost anything, and in this context silence is compliance.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

What would you say if I insist that there's yet another deleted tweet from yet another Nintendo employee showing that Nintendo actually only single matched employees' donations? You wouldn't believe me, right?

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I mean the difference here is I got a screenshot.

 

[ZeoVGM]

What would you say if I insist that there's yet another deleted tweet from yet another Nintendo employee showing that Nintendo actually only single matched employees' donations? You wouldn't believe me, right?

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what are you doing

 

[Hailinel]

Refusing to put out a statement is a bad look anyway. It doesn't cost anything, and in this context silence is compliance.

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"How dare they follow the same practices they've had in place for other world events and disasters rather than put out a mealy-mouthed PR statement I'd scold them for regardless."

 

[Mistouze]

If all brands could just shut the fuck up and give money, that would be nice.

 

[Reinhardt Schneider]

Honestly having Activision Blizzard of all companies come out with a statement makes me think of the mere idea of a statement release as a PR stunt and nothing else

As mentioned before with the 2011 earthquake, Nintendo takes measures and don't like to use them to give themselves publicity. This is another example of that (i just woke up so i missed the tweet, but the thread content says what i need to know. Double matching donations is a good contribution)

It shouldn't really matter if a megacorporation releases a statement or not. Statements are marketing.

 

[Phendrift]

Quietly matching donations is honestly better, even though a statement is good, this shows they're doing it because they care about the movement not good PR.

 

[McScroggz]

I mean the difference here is I got a screenshot.

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To be safe shouldn't you black out the see other tweets from that poster part too? I think that's what that means. Just in case I didn't add the screenshot in this reply.

 

[Laughing Banana]

With how readily everyone is defending this, I thought there would be much more to it.

What would you say if I insist that there's yet another deleted tweet from yet another Nintendo employee showing that Nintendo actually only single matched employees' donations? You wouldn't believe me, right?

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You are now just acting petulant and obnoxiously obtuse.

 

[Meelow]

With how readily everyone is defending this, I thought there would be much more to it.

What would you say if I insist that there's yet another deleted tweet from yet another Nintendo employee showing that Nintendo actually only single matched employees' donations? You wouldn't believe me, right?

Refusing to put out a statement is a bad look anyway. It doesn't cost anything, and in this context silence is compliance.

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Like the poster above posted, we got proof of this tweet. Just stop.

 

[McScroggz]

Statements are marketing.

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Sure but you know what the message is? Cops should stop killing black people and there's a problem that needs fixing. Even if it's 100% for good PR from the company's perspective isn't that message being everywhere and unavoidable a good thing?

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Yup donating money > PR statements about inclusion etc

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Absolutely. Actions are much louder than words.

 

[Software Update]

"How dare they follow the same practices they've had in place for other world events and disasters rather than put out a mealy-mouthed PR statement I'd scold them for regardless."

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The status quo isn't acceptable here. That's the point.

Imagine being the one person in the room who won't condemn racism. I'm not going to give Nintendo a pass because of a deleted tweet. That's ridiculous.

 

[Mimosa]

I'm sorry but judging by a lot of the responses we've been getting on Twitter from showing support, those "PR statements" mean a hell of a lot right now.

Black voices have been gaslit and silenced up until now. Y'all can be dismissive about "fake wokeness" but I know that every word added in the sea of solidarity takes a bit more of that burden off black people themselves.

Nintendo needs to say something. This isnt the time to play coy about their action (or inaction).

 

[SinCityAssassin]

To be safe shouldn't you black out the see other tweets from that poster part too? I think that's what that means. Just in case I didn't add the screenshot in this reply.

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Fair call.

 

[Hailinel]

Sure but you know what the message is? Cops should stop killing black people and there's a problem that needs fixing. Even if it's 100% for good PR from the company's perspective isn't that message being everywhere and unavoidable a good thing?

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If their policy is to not make such statements because they don't want to use them (or have them confused) as company PR, and would rather make quiet donations and moves that go under the radar, that's their prerogative and not innately a negative. Especially when such statements get derided pretty widely, anyway. If they made a statement, it would assuredly get an Era thread with a sea of responses all meming the white text/black background template, because a lot of people see such statements as empty platitudes.

 

[McScroggz]

I'm sorry but judging by a lot of the responses we've been getting on Twitter from showing support, those "PR statements" mean a hell of a lot right now.

Black voices have been gaslit and silenced up until now. Y'all can be dismissive about "fake wokeness" but I know that every word added in the sea of solidarity takes a bit more of that burden off black people themselves.

Nintendo needs to say something. This isnt the time to play coy about their action (or inaction).

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I agree. Without wanting to sound like I'm chastising posters for having a different perspective than me, which I don't want to do or seem like I'm doing, I find it odd to have the opinion of worrying about a company coming across as hollow in statements against things like social injustice. If you don't place stock in what they have to say why care if it might be for cynical reasons if the message is important and can reach a lot of people. There's a lot of psycho-analyzing that I'm not capable of doing; but I do think it's at best naively myopic.

 

[Glio]

Donations matter to me more than empty social media posts from all brands, but even more important is to strive throughout the year to recruit PoC talent.

Disgusted with so many companies that wants to "show" solidarity and then they are horrible with their workers. I look at you, Amazon.

 

[McScroggz]

If their policy is to not make such statements because they don't want to use them (or have them confused) as company PR, and would rather make quiet donations and moves that go under the radar, that's their prerogative and not innately a negative. Especially when such statements get derided pretty widely, anyway. If they made a statement, it would assuredly get an Era thread with a sea of responses all meming the white text/black background template, because a lot of people see such statements as empty platitudes.

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I'm not going to get up in arms of Nintendo doesn't make a statement. Matching and doubling donations is commendable. However I've said it before but I'll repeat myself: even if the message is entirely driven by the desire to be seen positively ever public statement of support for oppressed people and condemnation of social injustices is a net positive because it reaches people that might otherwise not hear that message. Or it makes the message so loud it's harder to ignore. Or it just makes the people that are struggling feel empowered or if they aren't alone.

I genuinely disagree with the mentality of staying silent because it can be misconstrued the wrong way. Silence is more harmful than a generic tweet of solidarity, and many responses seem pretty genuine. We should all be speaking out, and don't you think platforms that have hundreds of thousands or millions of fans can reach a wide audience?

 

[flare]

It's all well and good that people don't trust the fake woke PR campaigns corporations put out but in a time of unrest of this magnitude, any voice that speaks out in solidarity with the oppressed means something to someone.

Means more if they can follow it up with action, whether it be more representation in the company, more representation in their products, donating, or continuing to speak out against these issues publicly and openly.

Plus if it gets the bigots and racists riled up online, it's a bonus.

 

[Instro]

Quietly matching donations is honestly better, even though a statement is good, this shows they're doing it because they care about the movement not good PR.

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I really couldn't disagree with this more. This isn't like tossing money at cancer research. By nature this is a cause that can only succeed via vocal public support and protest. Companies adding their voice to the chorus brings mainstream legitimacy, and provides an immense signal boost, regardless of whether it is cynical or not. Additionally given the various issues that are present in the gaming community with racism, sexism, the alt right, GG, etc., Nintendo should not be sitting on the sideline being seen as some apolitical safe space for people like that.

In fact if go as far to say that donating in silence is almost as bad as doing nothing at all. You're literally saying that they so worried about losing customers(specifically customers who would disagree with this movement), that they don't want to be seen as taking a moral stance.

We don't even know what they are doing now that this tweet is deleted. It could have been incorrect in terms of the wording on double matching, it may not have been referencing the current protests, and Nintendo may fire this person for even speaking on it publicly to begin with.

 

[Xita]

I really couldn't disagree with this more. This isn't like tossing money at cancer research. By nature this is a cause that can only succeed via vocal public support and protest. Companies adding their voice to the chorus brings mainstream legitimacy, and provides an immense signal boost, regardless of whether it is cynical or not. Additionally given the various issues that are present in the gaming community with racism, sexism, the alt right, GG, etc., Nintendo should not be sitting on the sideline being seen as some apolitical safe space for people like that.

In fact if go as far to say that donating in silence is almost as bad as doing nothing at all. You're literally saying that they so worried about losing customers(specifically customers who would disagree with this movement), that they don't want to be seen as taking a moral stance.

We don't even know what they are doing now that this tweet is deleted. It could have been incorrect in terms of the wording on double matching, it may not have been referencing the current protests, and Nintendo may fire this person for even speaking on it publicly to begin with.

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Agreed. I'm not even sure why a discussion about donate or say something is even happening when multiple companies have done both at this point.

Also yeah, I didn't see the original tweet, but the image I see just says "donations," which I would say likely points towards BLM, but it's too vague to say for sure. That could be a double match donation to anywhere for all we know with what we have atm.

 

[Hailinel]

I'm not going to get up in arms of Nintendo doesn't make a statement. Matching and doubling donations is commendable. However I've said it before but I'll repeat myself: even if the message is entirely driven by the desire to be seen positively ever public statement of support for oppressed people and condemnation of social injustices is a net positive because it reaches people that might otherwise not hear that message. Or it makes the message so loud it's harder to ignore. Or it just makes the people that are struggling feel empowered or if they aren't alone.

I genuinely disagree with the mentality of staying silent because it can be misconstrued the wrong way. Silence is more harmful than a generic tweet of solidarity, and many responses seem pretty genuine. We should all be speaking out, and don't you think platforms that have hundreds of thousands or millions of fans can reach a wide audience?

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Nintendo isn't stopping their employees from speaking out as they like on the issue. Bill Trinen has for example said his piece on Twitter. I find that more effective and meaningful than a corporate template. People are speaking out. The corporation isn't.

I'll take personal and meaningful responses to the crisis over corporate statements. There's nothing wrong with corporate statements that come from the right place and have actual meaning behind them. But I don't want to see a sea of "thoughts and prayers" reflex responses that have no heart in them at all.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

Silence is not what everyone wants, and that's pretty much agreed, whether or not Nintendo of America gives a public statement about their support efforts isn't going to change the sentiment.

We don't even know what they are doing now that this tweet is deleted. It could have been incorrect in terms of the wording on double matching, it may not have been referencing the current protests, and Nintendo may fire this person for even speaking on it publicly to begin with.

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Employees are allowed to speak about social issues, but I'm not in the belief they would be fired for accidentally saying something on twitter regarding internal policies.

Also just to clarify the stance of the employee, they tweeted an amount donated to one of the protestor funds and spread awareness tips before that tweet.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

If their policy is to not make such statements because they don't want to use them (or have them confused) as company PR, and would rather make quiet donations and moves that go under the radar, that's their prerogative and not innately a negative. Especially when such statements get derided pretty widely, anyway. If they made a statement, it would assuredly get an Era thread with a sea of responses all meming the white text/black background template, because a lot of people see such statements as empty platitudes.

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Yeah because that really backfired on Ubisoft and Square Enix.

 

[Instro]

Silence is not what everyone wants, and that's pretty much agreed, whether or not Nintendo of America gives a public statement about their support efforts isn't going to change the sentiment.


Employees are allowed to speak about social issues, that particular one ha but I'm also not in the belief they would be fired for accidentally saying something on twitter regarding internal policies.

Also just to clarify the stance of the employee, they tweeted an amount donated to one of the protestor funds and spread awareness tips before that tweet.

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Yeah I was specifically speaking to the internal policy part. Even non-conservative companies are very prickly about that, even for something like this. Particularly given that they themselves have not said anything yet, so the employee has kind of placed them in an awkward position.

 

[JayC3]

Given the tweet in the OP has been deleted and the lack of an official statement, this thread is locked.