The IDW Publishing Writer Damaging Key Hasbro Brands
Hasbro licensee IDW Publishing is standing by Aubrey Sitterson's constant and repeated antagonization of customers.
Hasbro (HAS 0.00%â ) is in the middle of a social media crisis by proxy and doesnât even know it.
The crisis, which snowballed over the weekend, was initiated thanks to a hateful tweet by IDW Publishing (IDW 0.00%â) writer Aubrey Sitterson. On September 11th, the writer tweeted about his disgust for those mourning the lives lost with the destruction of the World Trade Center. His tweet probably would have flown under the radar is if it wasnât for one unpleasant fact: Aubrey Sitterson is the writer for G.I. Joe, a comic book based on Hasbroâs popular patriotic toy line of the same name.
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Sitterson is best known by the G.I. Joe community for antagonizing IDW readers and Hasbro customers. Between February and June, the writer repeatedly attacked anyone critical of his work.
Aubrey Sittersonâs combative, overbearing rhetoric is so uncomfortable to be subjected to that it has led popular G.I. Joe fansite YoJoe.com to discontinue all coverage of any IDW-published material based on G.I. Joe, Transformers, and any other Hasbro brands. Terry Dizard, a prominent administrator of YoJoe.com, gave a brief but to-the-point post outlining the writerâs bigoted alienation of IDW readers1âmany of whom could be counted as Hasbro customers. Toward the end of the post, Dizard said:
âI donât think it can be stressed enough that Aubrey went out of his way to antagonize the community. This is an issue of people caring about the G.I. Joe brand, and they see Aubrey as harmful to the brand, and that he isnât really concerned with helping or growing the G.I. Joe brand, as he is about growing his Twitter interactions.â
But YoJoes.com isnât the only fan site to issue a statement about Sittersonâs poisonous behaviour. In a post called âG.I. Joe comics from IDW Publishing are at a crossroadsâ on GeneralsJoes.com, another G.I. Joe enthusiast went into remarkable detail about Aubrey Sittersonâs long-held contempt for IDW readers and Hasbroâs customers.2
âSince then [Aubrey Sitterson] has continuously posted virulent and aggressive posts through social media while at the same time promoting G.I. Joe, and over the past several weeks I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with how closely linked the G.I. Joe brand has become with his own mode of online commentary.â
GeneralsJoes.com is a heavily-trafficked blog and review site dedicated to everything about Hasbroâs G.I. Joe brand.
Given that IDW Media Holdings, Inc.âthe parent company of IDW Publishingâis currently facing an apocalyptic 91% drop in revenue3, itâs a wonder why the comic book publisher has chosen to support Aubrey Sittersonâs bashing of their readership. Investors and customers can only hope that once Hasbro notices, the toy and collectible manufacturer will have a good long talk with IDW about the kind of respect that should be shown to their intellectual property licenses during these tumultuous times.
Rich Johnston, âA Timeline For Aubrey Sitterson, IDW, YoJoe⌠And GI Joeâ, Bleeding Cool, 14 Sep. 2017, https://bleedingcool.com/comics/timeline-aubrey-sitterson-gi-joe/
https://generalsjoesreborn.com/2017/09/g-i-joe-comics-from-idw-publishing-are-at-a-crossroads/
http://idwmediaholdings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/IDW-MH-Q3-2017-v8.pdf