vind*ctive

the princess has lost her sponsors. no more nice nails and no more nice hair. for free that is. anyway, the blogosphere is all stirred up again. it can't be easy to get endorsements if you're going to be outspoken and politically incorrect in singapore. this is not the US of A we're talking about. funny thing is that both the voxy and kimage endorsements are fresh deals and they should be well aware of how controversial and foul-mouthed pinky is.

but the thing that bugs me is the vindictive response. a few bloggers decided to get personal and launch campaigns to hit where it hurts. sheer maliciousness and spite for all to see. kim decided to put up a button to boycott products endorsed by bad models of society. why such a personal attack? why the obsession with making pinky suffer? I'm not sure if anyone else has put up that vindictive button on their site but would not the campaign be more civil if she created a button that campaigns for the exclusivity of handicapped restrooms? e.g. - put this button on your blog. show everyone that we will not tolerate able-bodied people using handicapped restrooms.

peter went all out. he was hell-bent on making pinky suffer. he used his position and condition to strong-arm pinky's sponsors. yes, I do believe he used his condition to achieve his goal in this instance. he also inserted an insidious threat to the sponsors by cc'ing a list of charitable societies in that said email. faced with this email, how else would you expect the sponsors to react? being unsympathetic to the disabled is a big no-no for business. and after the fact, he even blogged about his confession in atonement for the harsh words he had for jess (who commented on kim's blog). this doesn't seem to jive with his spitefulness toward pinky. he has not shown any remorse for his vindictive actions against pinky, a point misread by many hasty readers. his actions only gives credit to the view that we should be wary of upsetting the disabled because they might screw you over. it seems like he is using the pity that people have for the disabled to get his way. how is any of this good for the pride of the disabled. what was his ultimate purpose? to attack pinky? or to prove his point on handicapped restrooms? his smug comment 'because it always works' suggests the victory over pinky as his ultimate goal.

bloggers blog to voice their opinions. but when opinions differ, constructive comments and healthy debate quickly turn into name-calling and personal attacks. imho, peter could have easily used pinky's post to his advantage by asking for an interview with the local papers. he could have told them that he is concerned about how many able-bodied people think it is ok to use handicapped restrooms and list the reasons why they shouldn't. after all, I'm sure he has sufficient contacts with the press. in fact, he could have the interview with all the other outraged bloggers and launch an official campaign for the disabled, not an anti-xiaxue campaign. something complete with a slogan and buttons for all the bloggers to put on their blogs. think about all the impressionable young ones out there. sure, this may also lead to pinky losing her sponsors but this way, the sponsors would have come to the decision on their own and not out of fear of retribution.

that said, the sponsors pulling out is only expected. as I said, who wants to seem unsympathetic to the disabled? lucky for pinky, localbrand subscribes to the in-your-face attitude.