Chazore said:
They aren't likely to profit, but this comes off to me as though they want to use the disabled as a means to improve their brand image. I always, always have to ask these people,.these companies "where the hell were you guys decades ago, or 5-10 years ago when others were promoting/helping the disabled?". I see moves like this as though it's a "oh, I'm down on my luck, but this PR campaign will suit me just fine". I've always given to charity, be it money in charity boxes or giving away my clothing/books. I've never thought to myself "I need to do this to appear as something else", which is what these companies come off as to me when they only now just do this, and never once considered doing it years and years ago when it still mattered. It's been no surprise that MS has had it absolutely rough this gen, both via sales, popularity and PR, but to me, this just shows that they want to take on any group, like EA likes to pretend it supports LGBTQ (And yet they screw that up somehow). A nice ad none the less, but I don't like the "when it suits me" mentality of how and when these ads spawn. These companies should have been all for the disabled and unfortunate since day 1, not when it suits PR and image. I absolutely hate companies taking advantage of the disabled, even if it's just PR image. |
I also cringe when it looks like someone or a group are being used, but in this case, I have to look at it from a genuine perspective at present. When your a company like XB within MS, spoiled and safe, and you've had nothing but success and growth, sometimes it takes a hard kick in the nuts from the market/competition to start to understand what it's like to be on the short end of the stick. That negative event will hopefully open your eyes to the bigger picture. PS themselves got a taste of this during the PS3 era, and it led to them making console gaming great again overall, but they didn't seem to take the same kind of hit that XB1 has, which is why we see the many positive changes going on within the XB ecosystem.
When articles like the one above start to show up, it's the perfect time for a brand who's in need of a wake up call, like XB was, to take notice and up their game. If they do, and they follow through, then you have to give them props for 'seeing the light' and taking action. The other thing to take into account, is that when a brand is on fire, stories about programs like this tend to get overshadowed quite easily, even if they are going on behind the scenes and are trying to get coverage. People tend to be less inclined to focus on charity when things are going way to good. Luckily the world typically does a good job of knocking people or groups down a peg to keep them honest and giving, even the 'evil' mega corporations.
