At its first live event in Los Angeles, Australian company Canva put on a cringe-inducing show, according to some social media users.
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The online graphic design and multimedia platform hosted its full-day 'Canva Create' event at Hollywood Park on Thursday, May 23.
The company was founded in Perth in 2013 by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Orbrecht and Cameron Adams.
Bursting into a Hamilton-esque hip hop performance, a male rapper told the crowd of all that Canva had to offer.
"You can redesign your work, Canva got that glow-up, we redesign everything from the floor up," he sang.
In the two minutes and 20 seconds show, a woman playing the part of a sceptical enterprise CIO joined the beige-clad dancers on stage.
She raised some doubts about Canva's ability to meet the "demands of a global machine" and "integrate all of our systems easily".
Canva's rapper sang of automated licensing and compliancy, system integration, tailored APIs, and artificial intelligence training.
Eventually convinced, the 'CIO' rapped about how "much we love Canva 'till the end".
"You've opened my eyes to Canva Enterprise," she said.
Canva Enterprise is a newly launched subscription software aimed at large organisations.
The musical display has been ruthlessly mocked by social media users on X, formerly Twitter.
American comedian Gianmarco Soresi said "This is Lin Manuel Miranda's fault", while another user said "this is why Australian companies should stop hiring Americans".
"Feels like one of those stage performances to [sic] for kids to warn them of the dangers of drugs," one X user said.
Another user posted that while the performance was cringey, they would still use Canva.
"Omg, I'd have to step out, I couldn't sit through that," another commented.
Jessica Belzycki
Journalist at the Newcastle Herald.
Journalist at the Newcastle Herald.
