The ethics of censorship, accountability and corporate responsibility are evolving all the time. As private companies gain more and more influence over our day to day lives CEOs are continually perplexed by what, if anything, their responsibility to the public actually is. In August of 2016 Apple attempted to low-key weigh in on a politically charged issue and came up against major backlash. I refer of course to the polarizing decision to remove the huge throbbing cock icon from their emoji icon and replace it with a toy eggplant.
Whether you agree or disagree with the move, it’s hard not to see Apple’s point of view. There they were, this huge company with a product literally in the hands of 1 billion people world wide and there it was — a cartoon depiction of a giant erect penis, right between “see no evil monkey” and “fire.”
From Apple’s point of view, that throbbing cock was a big veiny time bomb, and they wanted to get ahead of it before it blew its wad.
And so, overnight, the cock was gone, replaced by a suggestive but much less severe eggplant. There was no press release addressing the matter, no social media post of any kind. Apple simply made the switch and hoped no one would really take notice or care.
The backlash came on almost as quickly as the switch itself. While some applauded Apple for taking a stand against the promotion of cock violence, others cried censorship, cited the first amendment, and made comparisons to Orwellian literature.
When the story broke we asked you to weigh in on facebook, a popular social media website at the time. Here we present some of the top comments from that discussion, a sort of digital time capsule that we hope represents both sides fairly:
“I think it’s great. If this change stops just one person from becoming radicalized and walking into an American school with a penis, it will be worth it.”
– Olivia St. John, nurse.
“This isn’t about an emoji, it’s about our rights as American citizens. Where does it end?! Today I can’t text a lewd depiction of my erect penis between a fire icon and a drooly smiley to a coworker, tomorrow I won’t be able to hug my children, that’s the future the dems want!”
– Alex Crinshaw, unemployed.
“Personally I would have appreciated a little more thought going into the execution. There’s no skin tone option on the eggplant! I’m a massively hung asian man, how am I supposed to convey that via text?! Literally no one I know is purple.”
– Michael Kim, Pediatrician