MKBHD takes tough stand after Dbrand makes racist comment on Indian customer [Update]

Canadian mobile accessories firm Dbrand sparked an outrage with a racist reply to an Indian techie on X, leading to criticisms from netizens. Dbrand offered $10,000 as an apology gesture, but is everything all about money always?

Dbrand’s reply to Indian techie has sparked a social media controversy, prompting a response from YouTuber MKBHD.

Dbrand deletes racist tweet on Indian customer after MKBHD intervenes [Update]

Dbrand has finally realised that its tweet “went too far” and decided to “buried the hatchet with Bhuwan” by deleting the offensive tweet.  

Dbrand replied to MKBHD on X, “Fair enough. We left the offending tweet up because we didn't want to seem like we were sweeping this situation under the rug. We recognize that our original tweet went too far and created a platform for hateful discourse. Given that we've already buried the hatchet with Bhuwan, we're good to delete the tweet and be more mindful going forward.” 
 

Dbrand makes racist comment on India- What happened?
 

Tech Youtuber MKBHD has warned Canadian accessories firm Dbrand that he will not be working with them unless a particular tweet is deleted.  Dbrand, which is famous for working with popular content creators like JerryRigEverything, has landed itself in hot waters after its allegedly racist reply to an Indian techie on Elon Musk's X. While the company's social media account is famous for witty replies to customer support requests, its latest tone has sparked outrage, and it even prompted a stern post from popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee, ubiquitously known as MKBHD.

Dbrand controversy- What MKBHD said

On Wednesday, Bhuwan Chitransh, an Indian man working in the Netherlands, put up a complaint on X about his MacBook skin changing its colour within months of purchase from Dbrand. “⁦@dbrand⁩ bought this skin a couple months back. Couldn't even remain the same color after just 2 months. What should I do?”, he wrote.

Instead of offering a solution for Chitransh's issue, the official Dbrand account replied, “Your last name is basically s**t rash, be serious”. While this may have seemed a witty reply at the time, it quickly attracted backlash with the post attracting over 8 million views. X users expressed their dismay, calling for an apology from the company.

The issue seems to have caught the attention of popular YouTuber MKBHD, who has taken a stand against the Canadian brand. In an X post, MKBHD wrote, “@dbrand Won't be working with dbrand until that original tweet is deleted, at least. You're allowed to make s****y jokes, but the internet has made it pretty clear what it think about this one, and the harm from it is unnecessary. 

I've been around long enough to see a LOT of versions of this in my years. Apologies on the internet tend to come in pairs. The first apology is usually rushed, and later regretted. The second, after some time, is usually more measured and reflective. I'm definitely not asking for a second apology, but I'm definitely asking for the reflective part”.

Dbrand's response

In the initial hours, Dbrand remained unapologetic, claiming that its feed was filled with such replies that could give someone a “pearl-clutching heart attack”. However, it has now backtracked and claimed to have offered the Indian techie an apology, along with $10,000 "as a gesture of goodwill”.

In a statement, Dbrand said, “Well that escalated quickly. Yes - we made fun of a guy's name. It was a huge fumble. We apologized to him directly and offered him $10,000 as a gesture of goodwill."

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