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Pepsi's $400,000 'reality TV' gaming show implodes after just one day, thanks to sexist comments.

vastderp:

the-real-seebs:

lysikan:

the-real-seebs:

wilwheaton:

The PepsiCo-sponsored GAME_JAM started as a four-day, $400,000 event where game developers would collaborate and compete for prizes. It took just one day for the entire thing to go up in flames.

Filmed for YouTube and structured more like reality TV than a typical game jam gathering, the whole thing tanked within the first 24 hours, allegedly thanks to the behavior of PepsiCo media consultant Matti Leshem.

…

[Game developer] Adriel Wallick described the oppressive atmosphere during the first day of GAME_JAM, where contestants had to compete in a Mountain Dew sponsored film set, for Mountain Dew themed prizes, while drinking nothing but Mountain Dew. “Guys with secret service earpieces and disheveled clipboards barked instructions on how to properly represent branded products,” wrote Jared  Rosen.

“You can literally trace back the entire crumbling of this show to one individual,” wrote Wallick. “Matti Leshem, CEO of Protagonist.” Protagonist has been Pepsi’s primary branding and media consultancy for the past decade, and Leshem was a constant presence on the GAME_JAM set.

According to accounts from several people present at GAME_JAM, Leshem’s behavior was brash and inappropriate throughout, culminating in a bizarre line of questioning where he attempted to get GAME_JAM contestants to admit that having a woman on their team put them at a disadvantage.

[READ MORE]

This whole thing is so fucked up, and I’m so proud of the developers who stuck together and stood up for what’s right.

Yeah, the more I look at this, the more utterly fucked up it is. There’s just something horrific about this. People tend to assume that once you get to the point where you’re recognized as a skilled worker, sexism isn’t still affecting you, but it totally is. And if you’re thinking “well, I’m a guy, it doesn’t affect me”, I got news for you: Everyone loses when good devs are treated badly. There are not so many geniuses that we can afford to laugh half of them off because they have boobs.

I don’t see much gender discrimination amongst geeks, only from HR, managers and marketing. The story seems to indicate that was what happened there, as well - the geeks were all together, but the non-geeks were F’d up.

Yeah, I think that’s generally the case. We do get a lot of severe sexism among video game players, less generally among the video game makers. Usually.

I think this story is particularly wonderful because the ubergeeks were having none of the fuckery, and they walked off the project in solidarity to protest abuse that was only being heaped on 2 of their number.

That’s the stuff, man.