‘Tis the season to be jolly, but a holiday-themed advertisement by Skype has left many Ukrainians in a bad mood, Hromandske International wrote.
Starting this year, Ukraine is officially celebrating both Orthodox Christmas on January 7 and the Catholic or “Western” holiday on December 25. But the Christmas spirit can’t erase the fact that parts of the country’s east have been occupied by Russia-led forces for nearly four years, according to Hromadske International.
Skype appears to have missed the memo on that. On December 22, just in time for Christmas, the company decided to congratulate Ukraine with — wait for it — Russian-themed emojis.
Understandably, Ukrainians were not amused.
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“Maybe Skype doesn't know that Russia [is] against my country: making war and [killing] my people?!” a Facebook user, Svitlana Linnyk, wrote in the comment section. “And I think that it's not [a] good idea [to] propagate symbols of [the] aggressor for Ukrainians.”
Other comments expressed similar sentiments.
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The official Skype website says that the company runs tailored ads, and the comment section on the emoji post suggests it largely targeted users in Ukraine. But judging by the response, Skype appears to have missed the mark.