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Earnest Paladin

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Why in the world did Gaia make a rewards tier that uses imagery associated with 50 Shades of Grey? Is it because the movie came out? It doesn't appear to be poking fun at the extremely problematic story that was born out of Twilight fanfic. Are they trying to jump on the popularity bandwagon and capitalize off of its totally unwarranted success?

Krule Keke's Significant Otter

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"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"


Or perhaps it's because it's five tiers of grey items?


"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."

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Pretty much yes. Gaia has no scruples.

Sahdomi's Princess

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Five Tiers? Check
Grey items? Check

I don't see anything wrong with this. emotion_dealwithit

Earnest Paladin

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Calelith
"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"


Or perhaps it's because it's a tier of grey items?


"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."


There are other ways to promote the Rewards tier without using anything associated with 50 Shades. For example, switching Diedrich with Rufus the Cat, who is actually gray and isn't wearing a tie, which has become rather iconic from the book's cover. Or using the spelling "gray" instead of "grey", which is the spelling of the abuser's last name in the book and movie.

Celestial Shapeshifter

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Irako of the Desert
Why in the world did Gaia make a rewards tier that uses imagery associated with 50 Shades of Grey? Is it because the movie came out? It doesn't appear to be poking fun at the extremely problematic story that was born out of Twilight fanfic. Are they trying to jump on the popularity bandwagon and capitalize off of its totally unwarranted success?


Pretty much in a nutshell. I mean coupled with the film coming out on V-Day and whatnot, I can't say that I'm surprised. The bottom line is the dollar. If they can monetize off of it they will. It's in poor taste, but I'm sure people dropped money for the tier because of the allusion. I dislike it because it's rather tasteless but a company will make money. There's lots of businesses that exploit the popularity wave if it means more dollars. Deflategate in the NFL boosted a lot of businesses that exploited it. Gaia's no different.

Feral Kitten

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There's multiple threads about this on Site Feedback but I believe it's a non issue. It's word play, the items weren't even bondage related. Just a shitty marketing ploy to catch people's attention, but clearly a joke. I think it's a very stupid joke but I could care less about their marketing ploys at this point. Clearly they suck with advertising and will continue to suck.

Tipsy Genius

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It's a silly pun and an excuse to mass-release grey items. There's no agenda behind it, and no endorsement of the film/book. I'm more traumatized by the image of business!Diedrich as a dom. gonk

Hardened Humorist

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I think you are making too much of a fuss over some nod to pop culture.

Beyond that, I like they put out dusky gray colored items.

Here I was coming to the thread expecting a new tier with bloody and bruised items under a disturbing name.

Krule Keke's Significant Otter

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Irako of the Desert
Calelith
"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"


Or perhaps it's because it's a tier of grey items?


"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."


There are other ways to promote the Rewards tier without using anything associated with 50 Shades. For example, switching Diedrich with Rufus the Cat, who is actually gray and isn't wearing a tie, which has become rather iconic from the book's cover. Or using the spelling "gray" instead of "grey", which is the spelling of the abuser's last name in the book and movie.


"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"


Using Diedrich is pretty much shows how much of a joke the concept really is.

It's nothing more then a play on words at most. There is nothing related to the book/movie at all beyond the play on words.


"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."

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Ladykiller

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I'm offended they didn't do 50 tiers.

Kawaii Nerd

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If Gaia was a better website I would be disappointed that it was associating itself with something that was so widely criticized for glorifying abuse. But. Gaia is Gaia.

But I thought that even Gaia was a little more choosy with their references, tbh... Fifty Shades is, like... mommy porn? Gaia has referenced its share of shitty franchises but usually they're like shitty anime or shitty video games, not shitty bdsm Twilight fanfiction.

I guess they're desperate for anything that would make them seem "current"?

Earnest Paladin

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I make a fuss because it ain't cool to even passively endorse 50 Shades like that, which is what the tier ultimately is. It's disgusting. Gray items are cool, but now I don't want any from that rewards tier because it feels like getting tainted by association.

There could have been 6 tiers. It could have been done so many other ways, but nope, they went with the one way that doesn't challenge what that story portrays.

Celestial Shapeshifter

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I think the only redeeming thing about this whole issue is what Natsu mentioned- Bondage items weren't included, which is a god send.

Krule Keke's Significant Otter

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Irako of the Desert
I make a fuss because it ain't cool to even passively endorse 50 Shades like that, which is what the tier ultimately is. It's disgusting. Gray items are cool, but now I don't want any from that rewards tier because it feels like getting tainted by association.

There could have been 6 tiers. It could have been done so many other ways, but nope, they went with the one way that doesn't challenge what that story portrays.


"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"


Unless Gaia comes out and says it, there is no way to know if Gaia is even remotely referencing Fifty Shades of Grey. Until then it's nothing but an assumption and/or knee jerk reaction.


"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn."
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