Overshadowed by Controversy: Difference between revisions

Line 172:

** Amongst gaming circles, the ''Records'' has also become something of a joke especially in light of the Billy Mitchell and Todd Rogers high score scandals. Mitchell in particular had his title stripped by Twin Galaxies due to issues as to the veracity of his records, but these were dubiously reinstated by Guinness shortly after. Their lack of expertise in games and overall reputation as an adjudicator of superlatives has led some gamers, one of them being speedrunning commentator Karl Jobst, to call for Guinness to stay out of video gaming as the community has already established reputable authorities to moderate and verify gaming records.

** A number of categories and records were also retired due to ethical and safety concerns, particularly with food and more dangerous stunts. The "youngest mother" record in particular was removed out of respect for a South American mother whose [[Squick|childhood pregnancy]] was an unfortunate story of its own.

* Toyota's reputation took a hit when a scandal broke out from a now-infamous 911 call of a man and his family panicking as they were trying to put their Toyota to stop to no avail, crashing into another car and falling into a ravine, resulting in the death of all passengers. This and several other incidents prompted the Japanese automaker to issue a mandatory recall of affected models, along with investigations and hearings from American legislators seeking to probe on the rash of incidents involving Toyotas as well as [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziGfQyCXiU4 a tearful apology from president and CEO Akio Toyoda]. A number of possible factors were investigated, among them a faulty floor mat, the pedal mechanism itself and software errors, though driver error and complacency has also been blamed particularly from the elderly [https://www.manufacturing.net/automotive/blog/13110434/the-2009-toyota-accelerator-scandal-that-wasnt-what-it-seemed whose judgement may be impaired or those who aren't easily acquainted and thus confused by new vehicles]. Many of those who have panicked over a car that had gone ~~rouge~~ did not for a second think about turning off the ignition or shifting to neutral (which would have outright destroyed the transmission but saved the occupants from more serious harm), and most of these incidents occurred on automatic transmission cars, which most Americans are far more accustomed to compared to manual transmission cars. Also criticised was the intense media coverage about the scandal, with periodicals and auto magazines faulting mainstream media outlets for [[Strawman News Media|"overblown"]] disproportionate coverage and what was seen as unfair demonizing at Toyota's expense.

* Toyota's reputation took a hit when a scandal broke out from a now-infamous 911 call of a man and his family panicking as they were trying to put their Toyota to stop to no avail, crashing into another car and falling into a ravine, resulting in the death of all passengers. This and several other incidents prompted the Japanese automaker to issue a mandatory recall of affected models, along with investigations and hearings from American legislators seeking to probe on the rash of incidents involving Toyotas as well as [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziGfQyCXiU4 a tearful apology from president and CEO Akio Toyoda]. A number of possible factors were investigated, among them a faulty floor mat, the pedal mechanism itself and software errors, though driver error and complacency has also been blamed particularly from the elderly [https://www.manufacturing.net/automotive/blog/13110434/the-2009-toyota-accelerator-scandal-that-wasnt-what-it-seemed whose judgement may be impaired or those who aren't easily acquainted and thus confused by new vehicles]. Many of those who have panicked over a car that had gone rogue did not for a second think about turning off the ignition or shifting to neutral (which would have outright destroyed the transmission but saved the occupants from more serious harm), and most of these incidents occurred on automatic transmission cars, which most Americans are far more accustomed to compared to manual transmission cars. Also criticised was the intense media coverage about the scandal, with periodicals and auto magazines faulting mainstream media outlets for [[Strawman News Media|"overblown"]] disproportionate coverage and what was seen as unfair demonizing at Toyota's expense.

* Junípero Serra was praised for establishing Franciscan missions in and around what was then Spanish-occupied California, and was beatified by [[The Pope|Pope John Paul II]] on 25 September 1988 in the [[Vatican City]]. His missionary work was however tainted and criticised especially in later years by Native American groups who accused the priest of genocide, subjugation and forced conversion of Indigenous American groups into Catholicism. Such was the outrage that several monuments erected in his honour were either [[Off with His Head|decapitated]] or otherwise desecrated in protest of Serra's alleged atrocities. Other Native Americans however were more positive towards Serra and his canonisation to sainthood, and had no ill feelings towards his missions in California.

* Photobucket used to be the go-to place to upload albums upon albums of images and videos for those who need to embed images on a website or forum, but don't have their own web space to host them to. But not only was the $399 subscription fee–first implemented in 2017 and required for users to embed images–tantamount to extortion (they later changed it to $4.48 to $11.48 monthly, but still...), it was also seen as a ''nightmare'' for internet historians, archivists and those who had years if not decades worth of irreplaceable images now replaced with watermarked versions due to Photobucket's draconian business model. This ultimately cemented Photobucket's contemporary reputation as a now-washed up and has-been image host, especially as the likes of Imgur have overshadowed it.