All the rage… Constant barrage of ridiculous outrage is getting me really angry

I’m desperate to be part of this outrage culture, people seem to get such energy from it, but I just can’t commit to the scene. I must be missing something because – and don’t get angry – it mostly just looks stupid.

Here are a few outrage-triggering mundanities I’ve noticed over recent weeks.

Some muslims in Britain, and by ‘some’ I mean hardly any, were demanding the boycott of a brand of toilet paper sold in Marks and Spencer because the design included an image which looked a bit like the Arabic word for ‘Allah.’ It was actually an Aloe Vera leaf.

Nike is having a similar issue with a pair of its sneakers, because the design also partly resembles the Arabic word for ‘Allah.’ Problem is, though, the word also looks a bit like the letter W. Wait until the terminally outraged hear about the World Wide Web.

I think we can offer the benefit of the doubt here and assume large companies are not attempting to anger the Muslim faith. Yes, ‘benefit of the doubt’. Now there’s a phrase that’s fallen out of fashion.

Speaking of fashion, the world of style has been so busy producing ridiculous garments only over-extended ostriches could pull off, that it hasn’t noticed that getting angry is the new black. (I think i’m still allowed to use that phrase.)

Gucci has had to withdraw a jumper that made anyone wearing it look like putting on blackface, and Katy Perry produced a shoe which also looked like blackface. Both claimed it was a mistake, and they didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  Of course they hurt people’s feelings, this is 2019! I also heard once that Katy Perry kissed a girl and liked it – I only hope she asked for consent first.

READ MORE: Dolce & Gabbana dumped by Chinese online retailers over racist ads & posts

Dolce and Gabbana also found itself backtracking back in November when it had to apologise for showing an advert in China which showed a Chinese model trying to eat Italian foods like pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks. Critics said it presented an outdated negative stereotype of Chinese women.  So, have they stopped using chopsticks in China?

The unfortunate Chinese model Zuo Ye says her career has been ruined by appearing in the ad. I’d say it’s the outrage extremists who have ruined her career rather than the ad itself. The problem is you can never actually tell what’s going to be slaughtered on the altar of political correctness until it’s too late. Completely unpredictable.

I do always enjoy the apologies the companies offer though, as if they actually care about all this social justice. “We never meant to offend anyone” they say, but always miss the “who may potentially give us money in the future” bit at the end.

I also noticed T-Mobile’s TV ads in the US during the Superbowl were labeled sexist by the Twitter mob because … look, I have no idea why. One of them shows two people messaging about what they want for dinner. The man wants tacos, the woman wants sushi.  Now please don’t reject me as some kind of 1950’s neanderthal, but that does feel like a conversation that might happen in real life.

The Superbowl is now more like the Outrage Bowl these days, as the mouth-frothers tune in to get angry at the ads or nipples on show.  I think the football may actually represent the break from the main event now.

I could get give you more examples, but frankly it’s getting me wound up.  Oh look at that, I can get angry after all: I’m outraged at all this outrage.