EA Calls Developer Mentally Ill

[Legion]

EA are like a stand up comedian who makes a terrible joke, but the longer it goes on, the worse it gets for them, and every body is waiting with baited breath to see just what embarrassing thing they will say next.

I have to wonder if they are determined to get everybody hating them. Can anybody think of a way that people hating them could make them money? Because I can only assume that is their plan.

Eh, I can't exactly say it was a horrible thing to say. I say worse things on a daily basis for humour.

Yes, but you aren't saying it while representing a multi-million dollar corporation while on camera.

 

[Britisheagle]

Surprised that not more gamers have gotten on their high horse about EA using a comment like that despite the fact "mental illness" is used as an insult almost all the time.

I don't think I'm gonna side with either of them. I don't think EA would have made that sort of offer and it not be documented or published somewhere but I love Oddworld.

So they both win. Yay.

 

[dancinginfernal]

"We wish Lorne luck on the game and recommend Lithium for the paranoia and Tourette Syndrome," said EA's corporate spokesman, Jeff Brown.

There's a Jeff Brown that sits next to me in school, and for a second I thought it was actually him.

Huh.

 

[Astoria]

They're both being pretty immature about this, though once again EA has made themselves the bigger idiot by making a joke about mental illness. Everyone knows that's a line you don't cross.

 

[Fasckira]

Eh, they were responding to a guy who told them 'Fuck you very much' and implied they were shit in bed. Clearly both parties here were being incredibly unprofessional, and they're arguing with each other on the same level. If you're going to call EA's behavior inappropriate, you have to say the same of Lanning.

This, really. Not only that but Lanning is essentially using the old "slate EA for quick cred" routine, not surprised EA are more than a little fucked off tbh.

Was EA's response unprofessional? Sure, but it was unprofessional to the level of amusing I'd say. Far as Im concerned, Lanning set the tone of this little spat so he cant start crying now EA have retaliated in kind.

 

[snowfi6916]

Eh, they were responding to a guy who told them 'Fuck you very much' and implied they were shit in bed. Clearly both parties here were being incredibly unprofessional, and they're arguing with each other on the same level. If you're going to call EA's behavior inappropriate, you have to say the same of Lanning.

This, really. Not only that but Lanning is essentially using the old "slate EA for quick cred" routine, not surprised EA are more than a little fucked off tbh.

Was EA's response unprofessional? Sure, but it was unprofessional to the level of amusing I'd say. Far as Im concerned, Lanning set the tone of this little spat so he cant start crying now EA have retaliated in kind.

So you think making fun of the mentally ill or challenged is "amusing"?

EA is the bigger asshole here by a mile. Lanning was too, but Jeff Brown should be fired for that comment. My cousin has Downs Syndrome and it is NOT something you use as a comeback, especially if you're a professional company like EA. Although after this, I would hardly call them "professional".

And I know they didn't mention Downs Syndrome, but it does fall into the same category.

 

[Batou667]

A Public Spokesman used a mental illness as an insult in a PUBLIC STATEMENT? How... STUPID do you have to be? The public backlash is going to CRUSH them.

You can't say "stupid" any more. That's demeaning to the Sub Average Intelligence community.

 

[Fasckira]

So you think making fun of the mentally ill or challenged is "amusing"?

Never once said that. Please re-read carefully what I put before knee-jerking your way to a response:

Sure, but it was unprofessional to the level of amusing I'd say.

I do not think making fun of mental health problems is amusing at all, and I certainly didn't say that here. The point I was trying to make (though evidently not clearly enough) was that the situation of two grown adults in a supposedly professional capacity were reduced to this was amusing.

 

[zumbledum]

Eh, they were responding to a guy who told them 'Fuck you very much' and implied they were shit in bed. Clearly both parties here were being incredibly unprofessional, and they're arguing with each other on the same level. If you're going to call EA's behavior inappropriate, you have to say the same of Lanning.

Yeah but theres a difference Lanning was just rude to EA his insults though rude were specific, EA then turn around and insult people with tourette's and to a lesser extent any mentally ill people with there usual gift of PR finesse.

its just another in a long line of EA publicity blunders

 

[Leroy Frederick]

Damn, now we'll never get Call Of Abe: Modern Failfare

 

[UberNoodle]

""We wish Lorne luck on the game and recommend Lithium for the paranoia and Tourette Syndrome," said EA's corporate spokesman, Jeff Brown. "Nobody here remembers a jet, a Ferrari or an offer to buy his company.""

Oh, that clears it up. Thanks EA. I had no idea.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Someone swears a bunch and someone else makes an offhand comment about him having tourettes. I'm sorry, but so what? They weren't using tourettes as an insult, they were making the comparison of 'guy swears a lot, like someone with tourettes or something' (which yes, isn't true all of the time, but it's how it's viewed by a large portion of society, which no, isn't good and better education is needed. Hell, I'm schizophrenic, I know what it's like for everyone to get your illness wrong, but to call EA out of it, rather than, you know, everyone, is just bull)

Are you telling me you've never referred to something as 'crazy', 'retarded' 'the ref must be blind' or something along those lines? Or you heard your friend say something along those lines (or even someone cursing having tourettes, this isn't an EA invention) and didn't care because it's a complete non issue? This is such a pandering case of trying to make a story out of nothing. Hey, EA is quite hated, let's trawl through everything they say to find something we can stretch into a headline and desperately grab some page hits.

Really, all you can argue is unprofessionalism, but the comment that started it was 'fuck you very much', so it clearly isn't a professional conversation.

But basically, this really doesn't seem like news. It's horse race journalism. And it's pointless and petty.

tl;dr: It's political correctness gone mad!!!

Pretty much this. Everyone in this thread who seems to be on a high horse about EA making fun of mental illness has laughed at South Park, Family Guy, and comedians such as Doug Stanhope, guaranteed. The title of this article boggles my mind as it sets the tone that only EA was rude here. Clearly not the case.

Comedians pull stunts like that to be funny, its their job.

Jeff Brown is EA's corporate spokesman, the 'voice' of the company if you will. He (and by extension EA) used it as an insult, something that I have stated before you would expect form a youtube comment, not from a large corporation.

I'm not going to debate whether or not it was justified, I will argue that it was petty, childish and unbecoming of Jeff Brown and EA.

I'm aware that comedians says things like this for a living. That doesn't change the fact that everyday people say stuff like this all the time. Yes, its Jeff Brown's job to be professional, but its kind of refreshing to see a spokesperson talk about someone in a way that you'd hear in any other workplace setting. It makes him seem more fallible and human.

And you're ignoring the fact that Lorne Lanning was stupidly rude as well. Its not like Jeff Brown goes out of his was to insult people using mental illness, he was fighting fire with fire. Its not "professional" but to be honest, there is such a thing as being too politically correct, and if it leads to people ignoring the fact that the offending party was provoked, then I'm not down for demonizing EA this time.

Jeff Brown is PR, the voice of the company, I get that. Lorne Lanning is president and co-founder, he is the company. He should have carried himself in a more professional manner rather than trying to look cool taking random childish swipes in the first place.

Both sides provided "youtube" style insults, either demonized both, or ignore it like you would on youtube.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

They're both being pretty immature about this, though once again EA has made themselves the bigger idiot by making a joke about mental illness. Everyone knows that's a line you don't cross.

South Park, Family Guy, any comedian ever, elected politicians, average everyday person.

Everyone "crosses the line" everyday in one way or another. Can't call it a line if everyone has a different distance to cross it, it then becomes a jagged shape. I've seen it on this website, both by Escapist member and by those who write the articles. What makes EA doing it so bad? Especially when provoked with words that are still censored on TV.

I have a hard time believing that just EA should be given shit here.

 

[MetalMagpie]

"When you say that to us we go 'fuck you very much', quite frankly. That's not a sustainable model, that's a hostile acquisition," Lanning said. "That's why we had to strive to get independent. Rather than get into bed with someone we knew was a horrible bed partner we said 'let's stay virgins for longer'."

...

"We wish Lorne luck on the game and recommend Lithium for the paranoia and Tourette Syndrome," said EA's corporate spokesman, Jeff Brown. "Nobody here remembers a jet, a Ferrari or an offer to buy his company."

I'll confess, I chuckled.

Leaving aside the whole political correctness issue here (mental illness is bad, people with mental illness deserve respect, etc.) I don't think there's anything really wrong with taking a pot-shot at someone who took a pot-shot at you. Yes, they're both being a little juvenile, but Lanning started it and I think Brown's comeback was funnier.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Holy shit these two make me look mature...

You would think grown businessmen would have a little more decorum in public.

I still wonder if it was EA who tried to take advantage of kickstarter and Obsidian. They really seem to know no bounds sometimes.

 

[Judgment90]

eh, EA's just salty they can't get seem to buy the Oddworld series.

 

[Carrots_macduff]

Lanning uses virginity as an analogue to their independent status and to denote ea's questionable business practices, Brown uses mental illnesses to personally insult Lanning and call him a liar.

regardless of how you feel about ea and the way they operate, you have to wonder how they can manage to continue royally fucking up the PR side of things

 

[antipunt]

Nope. Nope. NOPE

Not touching this with a 10 foot pole D:

 

[Canadamus Prime]

While EA is certainly an acceptable target, behaving like EA while doing so defeats the purpose.

Also I think the collective intelligence of just about everyone in the games industry took a nose dive sometime in the last 6 years or so.

 

[Icehearted]

Wow! It's like the last 10 years EA has done all it can to make as much people hate them as humanly possible. Next on their itinerary; kitten drowning contest at a kindergarten class?