There was an intense discussion on Twitter on March 11 and 12 about the controversial figure “Anzeigehauptmeister.” The Rocket Beans co-founder Etienne Gardé made a joke at its expense, for which he was criticized. The German Gamer of the Year Shurjoka stated that he is creating a second “Drachen game.”
This is the situation:
- In recent days, there has been a major topic in social networks, the “Anzeigehauptmeister.”
- In an episode of Spiegel TV, an 18-year-old was introduced who made it his life’s mission to report parking offenders and bring their misbehavior to light (via DER SPIEGEL – YouTube).
- Many gaming influencers reacted to this episode of SpiegelTV, like Trymacs. Generally, the influencers, who are often passionate drivers themselves, viewed the person critically, amused themselves about him or were outraged by his behavior. MontanaBlack even predicted that someone would “hit the Anzeigenhauptmeister in the face” (via YouTube).
Influencer compares controversial figure to character from South Park
This sparked the discussion: The gaming influencer Etienne Gardé from Rocket Beans published a thread on Twitter on March 11, comparing the Anzeigenhauptmeister to a picture of Cartman from the series “South Park.”
In the episode from the 8th season from which the image is taken, Cartman participates in games for disabled children to win a cash prize.
Gardé stated: The Anzeigenhauptmeister and Cartman in this specific role have “the same energy.”
“You are fueling a second Drachen game”
What is the criticism of this post? The criticism of the post is primarily that the mood against “the Anzeigenhauptmeister” is reminiscent of the so-called “Drachen game, where a controversial person was brought to the forefront of social media, making it seemingly socially acceptable to treat them as “outlawed.”
Gardé’s post is also criticized harshly because the “Anzeigenhauptmeister” has since actually been attacked and required hospital treatment. Furthermore, the caricature of Cartman is criticized as being disability-hostile.
The German Gamer of the Year, Shurjoka, accuses Gardé of ignoring the factual criticism from his community. This is “embarrassing,” as it fuels a “second Drachen game.”
How does the influencer respond? He seems genuinely surprised at the reaction his post is receiving.
He says he simply saw a parallel, such as through the bicycle helmet. He cannot understand how he is being accused of disability hostility or incitement to violence.
Gardé states that he takes criticism seriously. However, engaging with criticism does not mean accepting it immediately. Just because people read something into the image and accuse him of something, does not mean it is a reason for deletion.
Ultimately, Gardé left the Twitter post as it was, but closed the comments.
The influencer Etienne Gardé has always been known for his dark humor and biting comments. As early as 2019, he got into trouble with a comment about another controversial figure, Greta Thunberg:
