idiocy of being everything to everyone

It seems like DEI incentives have been in the news quite a bit recently with the whole Cracker Barrel logo scandal. 

And there’s another DEI cautionary tale that also doubles as a marketing lesson that comes from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, a game I’ve been playing in my free time. 

Lemme explain: 

At the beginning of the game, for some reason, the player is given a choice to be male or female. First, I was totally offended that there wasn’t an option to be trans! 

(I kid, I kid…) 

But yeah, there’s a choice to be male or female, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s because there were more women who worked on the dev team. Y’see, they want equal representation. 

Problem is, Assassin’s Creed is a largely male-dominated game, like, y’know, most video games. I’m making this up, but from the game experience, it looks like they added the male character option at the last second too probably because they faced backlash from their mostly male fan base.

Throughout the story, there are several people you can hook up with. But if you pick a male character, nearly 100% of these hook up scenarios involve another man. 

This caused quite a ruckus on Reddit (which leans super left). 

Watching the balancing act of male players there (who played with a male character) and who didn’t want their character to be gay, but also didn’t want to be offensive because they’re redditors after all was glorious to watch unfold in a few forums. 

Most male players don’t want their character to be gay! 

And yet, it’s absurd how often the game tries to turn your character gay. 

Maybe they’re making a social stance (and they probably are). 

But my suspicion is they designed the game for a female character to be “inclusive” … despite male players probably making up 80% or higher of the fan base … and only changed their tune when they pissed off their customers. 

It seems like every corporate DEI company just spits in the face of their customers doesn’t it?

Which brings me to the rub:

Don’t hate your customers. 

Something as simple sounding as that, in the year of our Lord 2025, can actually give you an unfair advantage against giant corporations you’re competing against. 

Anywho:

Hit reply if you want my help growing your business with email. 

John