What happened with Snapchat and Rihanna?

What Happened Between Snapchat and Rihanna?

The relationship between Snapchat, the popular messaging and social media platform, and the music superstar, Rihanna, has been an interesting one. While Rihanna has long been a vocal promoter of the platform, the two had a very public falling out after Snapchat failed to police an insensitive advert promoting domestic violence. Here we explore what happened between Snapchat and Rihanna and the consequences.

The Controversial Snap Ad

In 2018, Snapchat ran an ad for a mobile game entitled ‘Would You Rather?’ This ad prompted users to select whether they’d rather ‘Slap Rihanna’ or ‘Punch Chris Brown’. Chris Brown was Rihanna’s former partner who was found guilty of assaulting her in 2009. Understandably, this advertisement sparked widespread outrage, with many heavily criticizing Snapchat for showcasing such an insensitive ad.

Rihanna’s Response

Rihanna soon went public with her distaste for the ad and wrote an open letter on Instagram condemning this ‘inappropriate’ and ‘disgusting’ message. In her open letter, she asked Snapchat to avoid promoting anything that glorifies domestic violence, such as this ad. She also asked the company to look at implementing better filtering systems and policies to ensure such incidents wouldn’t happen again.

The Public’s Response

In response to the ad, members of the public were left frustrated and angered. Many argued that this kind of domestic violence promotion was a sign of Snapchat’s culture and their failure to police content posted on their platform. A number of respected organizations, such as the Guardian and the National Network to End Domestic Violence, also called out Snapchat’s advertising standards.

Snapchat’s Apology

After the public outcry, Snapchat released an apology. They acknowledged that the content was ‘deeply hurtful’ and stated that the ad should never have been approved. Snapchat also offered their sincere apologies to Rihanna for their mistake and explained that the ad had been taken down.

Snapchat’s New Policies

In response to Rihanna’s open letter and the backlash from the public, Snapchat implemented some new policies. This included the introduction of better content review processes, including the use of human moderators to ensure all ads were in line with their guidelines. Snapchat also began revising their contracts to ensure all parties were aware of their advertising policy.

Impact on Snapchat and Rihanna

Despite the apology and their new policies, the damage had already been done with both Snapchat and Rihanna suffering reputation damage. Snapchat shares dropped 6% following the incident, with many speculating that Rihanna’s criticism was a major factor. It’s been reported that Rihanna was deeply affected by the ads, feeling dehumanized and angry with the platform.

The Snapchat-Rihanna falling out was a huge embarrassment for Snapchat and a traumatic experience for Rihanna. The insensitive advert exposing domestic violence shocked many and was widely seen as an awful message to send out. While Snapchat did eventually apologize and implement new policies, the damage had already been done – to both the reputation of the platform and to Rihanna.

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