Key Takeaways #
- San Francisco AI startup LemonLime offered on-the-spot job interviews to people who got permanent tattoos at its YC Startup School afterparty, with co-founder Jordan Zietz framing it as a bold signal of commitment to the company’s mission.
- After the stunt went viral and drew heavy criticism and Black Mirrorcomparisons, Zietz apologized on X, admitting he "messed up," acknowledging the power dynamic of tying tattoos to hiring, and saying LemonLime removed the posts and will pay for tattoo removal for anyone with regrets.
An AI company has drawn comparisons to Black Mirror after offering job interviews to people willing to get permanent tattoos of its logo.
In an initial post shared on LinkedIn, LemonLime co-founder Jordan Zietz announced that seven people got tattoos after attending a YC Startup school party the San Francisco company hosted.
"We brought an actual tattoo artist to our party and offered an instant interview to anyone who got a LemonLime tattoo," he wrote alongside a picture showing someone getting a tattoo. "We are bold, we take risks, and we do things that haven’t been done before."
He added: "Being committed to our mission is paramount. Pre-requisites for building the future. If you’re reaching out to us to apply for a job, you might want to take notes."
Shortly after the post started to circulate on social media, the company was criticized and drew comparisons to dystopian fiction, including the popular Netflix series Black Mirror. Amid mounting criticism, Zietz apologized in a lengthy post shared on X, admitting that he "messed up."
"What I thought would be a fun, memorable way to people was, in reality, reckless, and instead came across as tying a permanent tattoo to job opportunity, which showed poor judgment," Zietz wrote, although he presumably used AI to write the apology for him. "Even though participants chose their own tattoos and no one was asked to get our logo, I should have understood the pressure and power dynamic created by connecting tattoos to hiring."
Zietz added that they’ve since taken down the posts about the tattoos, and have spoken to everyone who decided to get one at the event. "We're also ready to cover associated removal costs with anyone facing any delayed regret," he wrote. "I’m sorry to the people we put in that position, and to everyone who expected better from me. There’s no clever explanation here. I got carried away, and I was wrong. For the facts: interviews were available to everyone regardless.”
Check out some of the reactions to the poorly conceived idea below: