Spark gets sparked

Stuff reports:

A social media interaction between Spark NZ and a prominent transgender activist has led to threats of boycotting the company.

Over the weekend, the telco’s reply to a post from trans activist Shaneel Lal on the new social media platform Threads ruffled the feathers of some of its customers.

Lal’s post read: “Dear Threaders, Can we agree that we won’t tolerate TERFs on Threads. They’ve made the lives of trans people living hell on almost all platforms. Let’s not allow their hatred to poison this app too. Requested with love.”

To which Spark NZ replied: “Yes PLEASE, wholeheartedly co-signed” accompanied by two emojis including the transgender flag.

This was a pretty huge blunder by Spark. They messaged that they want people whose opinions differ on issues of gender to be banned from social media. And this wasn’t even in response to a query – they just decided to offer their view, and when asked if that was their official view, said yes.

Why do corporates think it is a good idea to take a stand on political issues?

They are very lucky that it is harder to swap telcos that it is to swap beer brands.