Apple Criticised After 'Spazbert' PR Blunder In OS 10.8 Release

So Who Is 'Spazbert', Apple?

UPDATE: Apple has contacted the Huffington Post UK to tell us It has changed the name of its dummy Game Center user - see below for details.

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Apple's PR drive for the latest version of OS X ('Mountain Lion') was criticised after it chose a bizarre and potentially offensive name to illustrate a new feature.

Apple used the name "Spazbert" for its dummy user in a PR-shot of the new Mac version of Game Center.

In the UK the word 'spaz', a derivation of 'spastic', has connotations with an offensive term used to describe people with cerebral palsy.

In the USA the word 'spazzing' means "to lose physical control" and is generally not offensive.

A screenshot of the page in question is below.

On Twitter some said that Apple had been thoughtless by including the word in its PR materials without editing them for the UK.

"Sheesh, localisation, guys," said Duncan Wilson, an employee of Dyson in the UK.

Another user, Nick Gibbins, asked: "is "Spazbert" a cute name to show in your Mountain Lion teaser, or is it based on an abusive term for someone with cerebral palsy?"

After being contacted by the Huffington Post UK, Apple updated its PR materials with a new name for the dummy user ('Ajmoo').

See below for the original version, and then the updated version.

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