Moscow – A Russian sushi delivery chain apologized to its social media accounts after posting an ad with a black man. The restaurant owner said he was bombed by death threats from a hateful nationalist group and forced to withdraw advertising.
Yobidoyobi, which has stores in 65 Russian cities, posted its first ad with a black model (a man surrounded by three women with Slavic features) on August 14th. He followed the campaign two weeks later by posting another photo of the same man in the sushi east, and the chain’s social media accounts were quickly flooded with hateful comments.
Yobidoyobi founder Konstantin Zimen blamed the attacks on a hate group called the “Male State” and said the rain of threats came after the movement’s leader, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, shared the announcement of the chain to their accounts.
The Masculine State and Pozdnyakov, which describes itself as a movement that promotes “traditional values” in Russia, have previously threatened Russian women with biracial children, LGBTQ activists and feminists, among others.
On its social media pages, the group has more than 100,000 members. Pozdnyakov has previously been convicted of inciting hatred towards women and in 2018 he was given a suspended sentence, which was overturned a year later.
“On Pozdnyakov’s telegram channel, her followers demand‘ real ’actions, post links to the girls’ social media accounts that also appear in the ad, and write negative reviews on all sites, online maps, AppStore and Google Play, “Zimen wrote in a letter posted to his blog.
He added that he had received numerous death threats and that his personal phone number had leaked online, prompting dozens of hate calls.
Zimen, Pozdnyakov also asked his followers to issue false orders and then refuse to pay for food to harm Yobidoyobi’s business.
“Yobidoyobi is known for its provocative marketing, but this time we did not pursue these goals: we just did a very ordinary promotion for social media. Many brands use images of different models, which may differ in the color of the skin, gender, etc., ”Zimen told Russia Inc. “There was no provocation, it’s just the voice of the moment. I’m sorry that someone thinks the picture of a black man (especially next to supposedly ‘Slavic’ girls) on the Internet is unacceptable.”
Yobidoyobi withdrew the ads and posted an apology on his Instagram page: “On behalf of the entire company, we want to apologize for offending the public with our photos. We’ve removed all content that caused this hype. “.
On his Vkontakte page, Russia’s Facebook-like social media network where the Male State gained prominence, Yobidoyobi said he apologized “to the Russian nation” for “hurting the Russian people” with the photographs.
Many of Yobidoyobi’s Instagram followers were outraged that the ads had been deleted.
“Aren’t you ashamed of this shameful apology, written as if the Taliban with machine guns were by your side?” asked one person.
The incident with Yobidoyobi comes weeks after a Russian grocery chain, VkusVill, suppressed an ad campaign with an LGBTQ family, sparking a massive backlash. The same-sex family that appeared in the promotion has fled Russia and cited death threats.