No, Microsoft's zombie groan isn't racist

Racism is something that’s in the news a lot at the moment following Donald Trump’s election victory and the rise of the alt-right. The unfortunate side effect of all this is companies occasionally get criticized for doing something that isn’t the slightest bit racist, but could be viewed as such, if you chose to do so.

Case in point, a day or so ago Microsoft sent out a promotional email for Dead Rising 4 with the subject heading "NNNNGGGHHAAAA". That’s a zombie groan right? Nope, apparently, it’s the N-word.

Some people saw the email heading and got offended, as people seem to do these days, and criticized Microsoft for the racial slur.

Instead of saying, "You’re all idiots, it’s a zombie groan", Microsoft did the modern thing and apologized, even though there was nothing to apologize for.

Xbox’s Larry Hryb aka Major Nelson tweeted this response:

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 / + 1m (@majornelson) November 22, 2016

For the most part, the comments following the tweet are complaining that Hryb felt the need to apologize for something that isn’t offensive, and rightly so.

People will see what they want to see. Racism is seen everywhere these days, even where it doesn’t exist. Should Microsoft’s marketing department be criticized for not realizing that someone somewhere might interpret "NNNNGGGHHAAAA" as a racial slur? No. Should Microsoft apologize for something that -- at worst -- was an innocent mistake, but which, in truth, is just the sound of a zombie hungry for brains? No.

We should stand against racism in all its forms, and fight against it wherever it arises, of course we should. But similarly, we should stand against idiots who get offended about everything, even innocent onomatopoeia.