Canadian brand faces backlash for racist comment on an Indian customer's surname

New Delhi, India

A Canadian accessories brand Dbrand is facing outrage for responding offensively to an Indian customer's complaint about a MacBook accessory. 

Bhuwan Chitransh on Monday (April 8) posted his complaint about the brand's MacBook skin changing its colour within just two months of purchasing it on social media platform X. "@dbrand⁩ bought this skin a couple months back. Couldn't even remain the same color after just 2 months. What should I do?” Chitransh tweeted along with a picture of the MacBook skin. 

Dbrand then made an offensive comment about his surname "Chitransh". “Your last name is basically s**t rash, be serious,” it wrote.

The brand's response received backlash on X, with people highlighting the racial undertones in Dbrand's response. The accessories brand, despite the outrage, did not apologise or delete the post.

The post has received over 7 million views on X. "It's astounding to me how fully grown adults think racism is still okay in 2024. Grow up people, you don't have to be a minority to understand common decency," a user wrote. "You've fully crossed the line here mate, no coming back from this," wrote another. "Not cool. Making fun of a foreign name and a market of over 1 billion people who probably won’t ever buy your products now," a third user commented.

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The company also posted that they made fun of Chitransh's name only after offering customer support and solving his concern. “Correction: we made fun of his name after the customer support,” it wrote.

“Like most surfaces, dirt and grime can accumulate on the surface of a skin over time. You can clean it using a microfiber cloth lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol,” Dbrand had written in response to the Indian engineer's complaint.