Synth hardware company Behringer have been accused of anti-semitism following an attack on a blogger.
The row centres on the journalist Peter Kirn, who runs the respected hardware review site Create Digital Music.
It seems that Kirn's opinions have irked the company, in particular their coverage of Behringer’s ‘SLAPP’ lawsuit against Dave Smith Instruments and users of the Gearslutz forum.
In response Behringer copyrighted the Kirn name in January, and unveiled the 'Kirn Cork Sniffer' last week.
The image – up top – clearly echoed a common anti-semitic caricature, with the company enduring ferocious criticism.
Hey @Behringer did you really think we were all going to find this hilarious? and now you’ve deleted it! don’t worry I have a copy if you lost the original pic.twitter.com/VWktz6vVrL
— canitambient (@canitambient) March 2, 2020
This doesn't come from a place of elitism. I love affordable gear that gets the job done. Sell your Behringer gear and give that money to a company that isn't anti-semitic
— Jonwayne (@jonwayne) March 2, 2020
Ghost Box Boycott Behringer
As if there weren't already enough reasons not to support Behringer, this should be the last straw for music producers and performers everywhere…https://t.co/de1aqeE51w#boycottbehringer— Ghost Box (@GhostBoxRecords) March 3, 2020
In response, Behringer have deleted their posts, insisting that the roll out was a joke.
Company founder Uli Behringer wrote on Facebook:
“What was meant as pure satire by our marketing department, has clearly offended some people and looking at the video, I could understand why. However, in no way did the team ever intend to make any connection to semitism, as some people have alleged.”
“We unreservedly apologize to Peter and anyone who felt offended.”
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