Nintendo has not always had the best luck picking public-relations managers. One U.S. PR employee was fired after allegedly moonlighting as a prostitute.
Now Nintendo Russia’s PR manager is attracting attention for his anti-gay tweets. A Redditor posted one of these tweets to the KotakuInAction subreddit. The tweet from Konstantin Govorun, who has been the manager of Nintendo’s PR in Russia since October 2015, shows support for Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law.
“Gay propaganda is any statement that gay relationship is equal to traditional one,” it reads.
When someone responded arguing that sexual orientation could not be political, Govorun responded with, “It’s illogical to charge your iPhone with a micro USB cord.”
The Russian anti-gay propaganda law aims to prevent children from being exposed to media that shows homosexuality as a normal activity.
Govorun’s Twitter account shows a history of homophobic tweets. For instance when Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, came out as gay, Govorun tweeted, “Every government official buying iPhones using “government money” supports gay propaganda. Now officially.”
He also had choice words for a controversy surrounding Nintendo’s game Tomodachi Life. Many criticized Nintendo for not recognizing same-sex relationships in the life simulator, which the company later apologized for.
“Gays shit on Nintendo because of Tomodachi Life,” Goverun wrote.
Here are some more of his anti-gay greatest hits:
“Did anyone suggest yet to use federal funds to fund free porn to oppose gay propaganda?”
“Now American BBC will bring other countries same sex marriages, not democracy.”
While cultural attitudes toward homosexuality are certainly different in Russia—and even in other Western countries—Nintendo is still an international company with an international reputation. It’s ironic that their PR managers of all people are the ones mucking it up.
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