Technology
AOC and Elizabeth Warren dunk on Amazon’s terrible tweets
Amazon’s public relations Twitter account messed with the wrong lawmakers.
The account, @amazonnews, appears to be trying out a new PR strategy. Over the past few days, it has issued tweets denying labor abuses and (legal) tax dodging, in a tone that can only be described as…. sassy?
1/2 You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021
1/3 You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them. If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by all means, change them. Here are the facts: Amazon has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
RE the whole pee bottle thing, Amazon got ratioed real hard by people tweeting responses with images, documents, and news reports of — what else — pee bottles. Some Amazon factory workers and delivery drivers say they have to resort to peeing in bottles because Amazon’s productivity requirements don’t give them enough time to go to the bathroom.
One of the people tweeting at Amazon was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She quote-tweeted Amazon’s blithe denial with a letter from an Amazon Logistics employee documenting the phenomenon.
Still apparently Mad and Online, the next day, Amazon actively riled another labor rights advocate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren tweeted about her plans to close tax loopholes that allow companies like Amazon to pay lower taxes. Amazon’s Twitter account decided to go with a “we’re just following the rules” defense.
Warren, of course, was not having it. She responded that Amazon pays buckets of money in lobbying fees to make sure the tax code is favorable to the company. A new report from Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, says Amazon spends more on lobbying than any corporation in the U.S. besides Facebook (excluding trade groups and “consolidated corporate spenders” like Blue Cross Blue Shield).
The exchange is just another reminder to never pick a fight with Liz.
I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I’ll fight to make you pay your fair share. And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets. https://t.co/3vCAI93MST
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 26, 2021
Maybe it’s time to log off, Amazon?
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