A new advertisement from Razer is making the rounds on TikTok and proving, yet again, that old-fashioned sexism in gaming is alive and well. Though meant to help promote the tech company’s noise cancelling headphones, the ad instead reinforces the stereotype that women–who make up 48% of all gamers, by the way–simply can’t stop talking.
Accompanied by the caption “Don’t let yapping get in the way of your winning,” the ad (first noticed by PC Gamer) depicts a man and woman sitting on a couch together. The man, both holding a controller and wearing a headset, awkwardly shuffles as the woman emphatically speaks to him. After a few moments, he decides to activate the headset’s Active Noise Cancellation feature. The woman’s voice is drowned out, while the text on the video reads: “Active Noise Cancellation: On, Drama: Off.” As of October 23, the advertisement is still up on TikTok.
Considering Razer’s history of making cute accessories geared towards female audiences, the advertisement comes as a bit of a shock. Though the ad might not be intentionally sexist, it plays into long-standing gender roles and is extremely dismissive towards the large population of women who also play video games. Coincidentally, a recent study by the Entertainment Software Association found there is a “nearly equal gender split” among video game players.
The response to the ad has been primarily negative, with users writing comments like “welp guess I’m done with razer after 15 years,” “I just put my razer headphones in the bin,” and “the casual misogyny is INSANE” in response. Per PC Gamer, TikTok users are also taking to other Razer videos to express their discontent, with the top comment on an ad for the company’s Razer Kuromi headset reading, “razer’s sexist btw.”
GameSpot has reached out to Razer for comment.
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