The Neopets Metaverse team, an NFT group run in partnership with the Neopets team to sell new and nostalgic Neopets as crypto art, is facing backlash for using a Soyjak meme to mock people who don't like NFTs after receiving criticism over their products.

Not Neopets unironically posting a soyjak meme in response to people protesting their NFT project……. pic.twitter.com/H5yEZNYWLK

— King Katie @ my neopet could fix us (@bumblebeedles) October 10, 2021

Neopets Metaverse has been hit with criticism since its announcement. The main criticisms from users online include complaints that the company should revamp their website and game if they really care about the community and that the NFTs seem like a desperate cash grab banking on nostalgia. These criticisms apparently weighed heavy on the team, inspiring them to post an Oomer Wojak meme to combat the haters.

The meme depicts "The NFT Hateoooor" and shows a Soyjak character surrounded by stereotypical reasons to hate on NFTs. It was tweeted by the Neopets Metaverse Twitter page (@NeopetsMeta) On October 10th and was deleted after Twitter users began resharing it.

neopets seriously posting soyjak memes on their twitter directed at their most dedicated players, and probably the only people still using this currently defunct website, who have been protesting the websites production of NFTs lmao fuck me running pic.twitter.com/6pjTWsB58t

— NOSTREM 🎮 (@N0STREM) October 11, 2021

embarrassing yourself and what's left of the neopets brand speedrun any% pic.twitter.com/jvioK7TrPp

— monstrous mash-up of a prehistoric sort (@toropiamon) October 11, 2021

The meme struck a sour chord with the most dedicated Neopets fans, who seem to be the main ones criticizing the NFT project. Neopets Metaverse posted an apology for the meme later that day, saying it was meant to educate viewers and that they didn't realize that Soyjak memes are frequently used by "hateful" web users.

by net users to be hateful. We sincerely apologize for our use of this content and are having internal discussions about how we can avoid similar acts in the future. To anyone hurt by our tweets: we are sorry and have deleted the offending tweet. 2/2

— Neopets Metaverse (@NeopetsMeta) October 10, 2021