You know how sometimes it SOUNDS like a good idea, but in reality it's a terrible idea? That recently happened to Skowhegan...

 

The Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce sent out an excited email about their first annual “Hunt for the Indian” holiday promotion. And then the social media outrage about how racially insensitive this was came pouring in.

They have since apologized and cancelled the promotion:

I fully believe they did not mean to come across as insensitive...it just wasn't a well thought out promotion and the name certainly sealed the lousy deal.

The chamber wanted to hide a small duplicate of the statue in a local business, and shoppers would look for it using clues posted on the group’s Facebook page. Winners would get a 20% off coupon. Then they would move it to a new business.

The apology came fast in another email. Part of it read:

It was never our intention to offend anyone, quite the opposite. It was our goal to honor our community icon, support local business and engage the people of greater Skowhegan. Now we understand we’ve created a bigger problem of not seeing our actions from others’ perspectives given the local and national issues around mascots and racism.

 

This continues to be a hot topic...is it pride, or is it just rude?

 

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