Email to OnePlus

Dear OnePlus,

I'm writing to request that my order (*redacted*), which is currently in processing, be cancelled and refunded. I hope that this won't cause too much hassle.

I was delighted to receive my invite to purchase a OnePlus One. I think your plans to cause a stir in the phone market are exciting, and your design philosophy is excellent.

However, after seeing the launch today of your "Ladies First" campaign, I don't think I can buy a handset without feeling uncomfortable. I'm sure you intended this campaign to be lighthearted, a fun way to encourage more women to take an active role in the forum community.

However, these values are not reflected in the reality of the competition. While I have no doubt that your aims to be (as you say) “gentlemanly” and “chivalrous” are sincere, this actually comes across at best patronising and at worst, unabashedly lecherous. It is not gentlemanly to insist that women be evaluated solely on appearance, and it is certainly not chivalrous to ask them to present themselves for such an evaluation, online, to a far larger group of men. Referring to women as “the few but beautiful female fans” in your forum-base is probably not going to help encourage more women to join up.

This competition also - and again, I very much doubt this was something you ever intended - suggests that you do not view your male customers in particularly high esteem. It implies that we should enjoy the chance to gather around some women, to digitally holler at them and critique their looks.

I would not enjoy making other people uncomfortable.

As a man, working in a tech-related field, I don't really want to associate myself with that way of thinking about, and acting towards, women. The tech sector has trouble enough in its attitudes to women and men, without this piling more coal onto that fire.

I hope you’ll see this side of the argument, and retract the competition. But right now, however nicely designed it is, I don’t think I’d be able to look at that handset every day, without feeling like I’d tacitly endorsed something that goes against so many of my values.

Many thanks for reading, and with best regards,
Rob Jones