‘RACIST’ soap dispenser creates HUGE buzz on social media

The video was shared by a Twitter user from Nigeria. While some argued it must be a "technical" glitch and something to do with "poorly lit bathroom", others pulled up the company saying only if they had "employed a single dark skinned person they'd have found this problem earlier."

By: Trends Desk
New Delhi | August 21, 2017 04:27 PM IST

4 min read

soap dispenser, racist soap dispenser, diversity in tech industry, racist soap dispenser video, viral video, trending video, indian express,

(Source: Chukwuemeka Afigbo‏/ Twitter)

There has been a huge uproar on social media platforms after a video of a ‘racist’ soap dispenser went viral. The video shows a soap machine squirting a blob of foamy froth when a light-skinned person waves their hand underneath, however, the machine does not seem to function when a dark-skinned person puts their hand underneath. To check if it was really a glitch or there was a serious problem related to melanin, a person put a white paper towel underneath and the dispenser worked again!

Shocked and irked by the discriminatory machine, he filmed the entire episode and posted a video on Twitter. Sharing the post, the user from Nigeria, Chukwuemeka Afigbo‏, wrote, “If you have ever had a problem grasping the importance of diversity in tech and its impact on society, watch this video”.

The video has gone viral with over 150,000 retweets and close to 3,000 comments, at the time of writing.

Watch the video here:
https://twitter.com/nke_ise/status/897756900753891328
While some argued it must be a “technical” glitch and something to do with “poorly lit bathroom”, others pulled up the company saying only if they had “employed a single dark skinned person they’d have found this problem earlier.”

https://twitter.com/noticeofpoop/status/897864880983744514

https://twitter.com/coldgirlfeverr/status/897828793242595331

https://twitter.com/Mirrorlessview/status/897839638219509761
https://twitter.com/L0udMin0rity/status/897911835281829889
https://twitter.com/hannarchyst/status/897913953107365889
https://twitter.com/TheCelticBongo/status/897799765206999041

https://twitter.com/MsGucciSu/status/898240019999141890
https://twitter.com/m_seaborn/status/899423144741613568
While many Twitterati seemed irked by, few have tried to defend the company. But this is not the first time a soap dispenser has been called ‘racist’. In 2015, a similar video led to a debate. The soap dispensers at a Marriott hotel in Atlanta failed to identify the hands of a dark-skinned man and back then also it was blamed on sensors and how some objects reflect less light thus it fails to trigger the sensor.