Snapchat’s “offensive” 4/20 Bob Marley filter has badly backfired

Come on Snapchat, don't ruin a perfectly good holiday.

April 20th – or 4/20 – is a marijuana commemoration day marked annually by students, stoners, and hungry people worldwide. This year Snapchat got in on the 4/20 action with a feature that has not gone down well. The social media app has installed an official 'Bob Marley' filter for the day - leading to accusations that it's racially insensitive by encouraging the use of blackface. The confusion has fooled many into believing that today is Bob Marley's birthday (it isn't), while others are angry the musician is only remembered for getting high.

A Snapchat spokesperson told The Next Web:

Be that as it may, it seems there's a fine line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation: https://twitter.com/angnik26/status/722825113876320256 https://twitter.com/TweetsByBilal/status/722750779577094144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/Everette/status/722805974658985985 https://twitter.com/YVSCKO/status/722764389758185472 https://twitter.com/alplicable/status/722775388179533824 https://twitter.com/ZER0DayVirus/status/722720350228848640 https://twitter.com/hibaxvii/status/722765549789286402   Anything else happening for 4/20 that we should know about? Let us know at Hello@JOE.co.uk and we'll spread the word! Happy 4/20!