Creative Unicorn, a Kuala Lumpur digital marketing agency aiming to “give you great solutions without the fluff,” missed a lesson or two on email etiquette, and one Facebook user went public with their religious assumptions.
In her post she explains that her brother, Kamil, had recently returned after ten years of studying in the United States and had begun the arduous process of applying for jobs in the creative field. After applying to Creative Unicorn for a job as a Junior Art Director, he received an unsolicited email thanking him for his interest.
BUT… Yes, of course there was a “but,” and this one certainly found itself on the opposite side of acceptable.
Creative Unicorn “warned” him that their “company culture” was not “friendly to his current religious beliefs.” Working at their agency, apparently, meant that Kamil would have to “put aside religious limitations, and have an open mind to a new open working culture.”
(Editor’s Note: Isn’t it ironic that the same people telling others to be “open minded” are the exact same ones making or regurgitating close-minded assumptions?)
Surprised at the response, Kamil wrote back, telling CU that nowhere on his resume did it state his religion, nor any other indication of his faith, whatever it might be. He surmised that the recipient must have made assumptions based on his name.
Adding he had “never” been profiled like that before, not even in the US, he told the company that he felt attacked and was subsequently withdrawing his application.
After the post went viral, and online backlash ensued leading Creative Unicorn to issue a response.
Explaining that they only meant to highlight that they had dogs and alcohol in the office, they intended to be transparent and did not intend to offend any race or religion.
Their letter in full is below:
Kamil’s sister, who originally shared the post, has accepted the apology, saying it takes a lot to admit someone is wrong.
Great, we’re happy that every party is content with the outcome, but (yeah — we have a “but” too), we can’t help but point out that this apology reads like someone saying they feel bad we’re upset.
Kamil’s initial point was that assumptions were made not only made about his name, his race, and his religion, but that he as a person was treated less like an individual, and more like the personifications of Creative Unicorn’s assumptions.
Which they don’t seem to feel not sorry about, at least not based on their letter.
Open mindedness is a two-way street, everyone, and it’s high time that we start treating others as we ourselves would like to be treated.
Lecture over. Bye!
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