And a blunder is upon us! Nothing forgot to replace professional photos with real samples from Phone (3)

Imagine going to a store to try out the new Nothing Phone (3) and seeing beautiful sample photos on the display with the caption “Judge for yourself. This was shot by our community with Phone (3).” But alas – none of those photos were taken with this phone. And not even with any other Nothing phone. They were professional stock photos.

The entire deception was uncovered by an anonymous photographer who recognized his own work. Five displayed images – a person by a window, a full glass, a round headlight, a spiral staircase, and a woman with a scarf – came from the stock photo marketplace Stills. The headlight photo was even visible on the Instagram of photographer snapsbyfox, who took it in 2023 with a professional camera, the Fujifilm X-H2S.

Photos that were forgotten to be replaced

Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis quickly tried to put out the fire on X. According to his explanation, these were temporary placeholder photos added 4 months before the phone’s launch, which were supposed to be replaced with real samples just before sales began.

“Once we enter mass production, these placeholder images are replaced with photos from the phone via a new version of the demo units. In this case, we were notified that some units had not been updated. We are actively rectifying this and working with our promoters to ensure all demo units contain the latest version,” Evangelidis wrote.

Interestingly, Nothing previously used photos from older Nothing phones as placeholders. This would have prevented the problem – even if they were forgotten to be replaced, they would still represent the brand’s capabilities. However, the new team decided to use stock photos, which, according to Evangelidis, was a mistake.

This isn’t Nothing’s first blunder this year

This incident isn’t the first time Nothing has had an issue with the presentation of its cameras. In February, the company had to correct a misleading video comparison of Phone (3a) with iPhone 16 Pro Max, where the iPhone’s video was shot with a wide-angle lens instead of the main sensor with higher quality.

At the time, Nothing promised to be “more careful and ensure greater control in future comparisons.” But as we can see, that promised control apparently didn’t materialize. Using professional photos instead of clearly marked placeholders is precisely the type of error that can easily be prevented.

Unfortunate accident, or intentional?

Although Evangelidis claims it was an unintentional oversight without malicious intent, the whole situation raises questions. Why pay for professional photos that were supposed to be replaced anyway? Any placeholder image would have served the purpose of temporarily filling the space.

Nothing launched three new phones this year, including its first flagship model. A brand that prides itself on transparency and a community-driven approach now needs to be careful about its credibility. Two scandals within a year are not exactly a good calling card for a company that wants to compete with established players.

The entire situation shows how easily a marketing presentation can turn into a PR disaster. In an age where anyone can verify photo EXIF data and professional photographers recognize their work at first glance, using other people’s photos as your own samples is a gamble that doesn’t pay off.

What do you think about the whole affair?

Source: AndroidAuthority