The announcement of “Xbouse” unleashes a wave of criticism and Xbox eliminates it in Europe

Xbox removes the "Xbouse" ad in Europe after the wave of criticism.

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What was meant to be a simple visual joke ended up becoming an international communication problem. Over the weekend, Xbox UK posted an image on Instagram with the text “Xbouse“, a mix of Xbox and House, accompanied by a slightly deformed Series X console. The goal was to make a humorous nod, but in France and other French-speaking countries the word “bouse” is used as an insult, and literally means “cow dung”.

The mistake went unnoticed at first, but within hours the post was filled with comments and mockery, especially from the PlayStation player community, who have been using “Xbouse” as a derogatory term to refer to the brand. Amid the uproar, Xbox UK’s account deleted the post and has not issued public comments, although the damage was already done: the term went viral on French social media and news outlets, generating all sorts of memes and criticism.

Xbox deletes post after backlash and avoids further controversy

According to several Reddit users, the term is interpreted in France, Belgium, and French-speaking Switzerland as “trash” or “cow dung”, turning a local campaign into an example of how a translation or context error can have unexpected consequences. “Xbox became the laughing stock of the internet in just a few hours“, commented a French user on the original thread.

Although the controversy has died down, some players point out that this type of mistake comes at a delicate time for Xbox in Europe, where sales and public perception remain lower than in other regions. As is often the case, the incident will soon be forgotten, but it will serve as a reminder of the importance of reviewing every detail before publishing content globally.