6 ms·

Nokia apologises for 'faked' Lumia smartphone advert

71 points by nsns 14y ago

ipostonthisacc 14y ago
To answer people from the other thread, this is the reason why we should always complain about things like this. edit: no matter who the vendor is.
yaix 14y ago
> In a blog post the handset maker said it should have "posted a disclaimer". In #eee on white background and x-small font size, I believe. How about simply telling the truth?
- cabalamat 14y ago
  Is there any reason why they couldn't be prosecuted for fraudulent advertising?
  - grecy 14y ago
    Depends on the country. Australia has extremely strict laws about false advertising, and they carry stiff penalties.
    - megablast 14y ago
      The UK as well, and they stopped letting Apple run their iPhone ads which purported to have the entire internet, because they did not show Flash. I wonder if they still hold this position.
randomdrake 14y ago
Link to the apology: http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/09/06/an-apology-is-due/ http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/09/06/an-apology-is-due/
- 89a 14y ago
  The actual demo of the tech is much less impressive. Horrible distortions at the edge of frame. > we produced a video that simulates what we will be able to deliver with OIS Why not wait till you can deliver it to show it then
  - cstejerean 14y ago
    Because they had to get their announcement in before Apple's event next week. This way, hopefully, some people will hold off on buying the next iPhone and wait for Nokia to actually ship.
    - Dylan16807 14y ago
      With the release coming up, if they don't have the software running on a dev kit by now they have far bigger things to worry about.
brudgers 14y ago
A willingness to apologize is one feature of companies which treat the B2C market as if it were B2B. It's been a core of principle of Microsoft (e.g. their fixing of the Xbox's Red Ring of Death). Compare this with Apple's "Hold Differently" in regard to the iPhone 4 or their simply ignoring the manipulation of the Star Trek and sending the New York Times flash animation down the memory hole in regards to the iPad. Nokia doing so in this case shows why there is such potential for their partnership with Microsoft over the long term. Both companies have similar approaches to the consumer market.
- coob 14y ago
  "Hold Differently" is a gross misrepresentation of the iPhone 4 antenna issue. What actually happened: A full fledged press conference by the CEO himself basically saying: "This happens to all smartphones, we made it worse by marking the spot, we think performance is still acceptable but if you don't, here have a free bumper as it reduces the problem".
  - moe 14y ago
    What actually happened: We did no wrong ... but here have a free bumper And of course this all happened out of pure love and altruism from Apple. Not like it had anything to do with a class action lawsuit or something... http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-57380685-248/settlement-reached-in-iphone-4-antennagate-suit/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-57380685-248/settlement-re... Looks like the reality distortion field is still going strong, even post-Steve.
    - Cushman 14y ago
      Maybe this is a stupid question, but what does a lawsuit settled in 2012 have to do with an announcement made in 2010?
      - moe 14y ago
        The outcome was predictable when it started. Apple's "full fledged keynote" was a maneuver to deflect PR damage. And obviously they succeeded; Many people know about the keynote but don't know that it was an attempt to pre-empt a lawsuit.
seivan 14y ago
Yeah..... never trust Nokia after http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJpEuMidcSU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJpEuMidcSU] They don't grasp how much they hurt themselves with crap like that. If your product isn't good enough to be used in the commercial, then don't sell it.
- mtgx 14y ago
  That video was hilarious. This is why false advertising shouldn't exist especially when it's about showing how your product works. You can't just show people in ads how the product works drastically better than it actually does in reality. A lot of people would buy it thinking it actually works like advertised. That's just wrong.
  - 5teev 14y ago
    Nokia is a company with over 100 years of success behind it, and it approaches new products with the concomitant confidence: they really believe the engineers will be able to pull off whatever the marketers come up with. (Even after, as the video shows, the top of the line N97 fell far short of the hype.)
    - hammersend 14y ago
      So what is your point? The more experience a company has the more naive they're likely to be? That's ridiculous.
thomasz 14y ago
Uh did anyone really think that they shoot an advertisement with a mobile camera?
- sjwright 14y ago
  If they said they did, then yes.
  - thomasz 14y ago
    Seriously, do you think that they did not special effects for the following iphone commercial? I'm not a cameraman, but i guess it's simply impossible to get this quality by just filming a real device. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSAje0EgYjY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSAje0EgYjY
    - Dylan16807 14y ago
      Nobody is complaining that they fake the screen of the device in a commercial. Yes, it's hard to film that. But when you are showing off imagery that is supposed to be coming from the device it had better be accurate.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  An advert purporting to show the video quality of the camera? Yes. If it's not showing the actual quality of the image, what is it meant to be showing? "This is what effect image stabilisation has on a vastly different camera. So buy ours"?
- megablast 14y ago
  It is like what they used to do with video games, where lots of games would not show actual game footage on the backs of the boxes. They would show cut scenes. I expected better from Nokia. They were running on a high after saving the bloggers that Samsung hung out to dry.

71 points by nsns 14y ago

To answer people from the other thread, this is the reason why we should always complain about things like this. edit: no matter who the vendor is.

yaix 14y ago

> In a blog post the handset maker said it should have "posted a disclaimer". In #eee on white background and x-small font size, I believe. How about simply telling the truth?

cabalamat 14y ago
Is there any reason why they couldn't be prosecuted for fraudulent advertising?
- grecy 14y ago
  Depends on the country. Australia has extremely strict laws about false advertising, and they carry stiff penalties.
  - megablast 14y ago
    The UK as well, and they stopped letting Apple run their iPhone ads which purported to have the entire internet, because they did not show Flash. I wonder if they still hold this position.

randomdrake 14y ago

Link to the apology: http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/09/06/an-apology-is-due/ http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/09/06/an-apology-is-due/

89a 14y ago
The actual demo of the tech is much less impressive. Horrible distortions at the edge of frame. > we produced a video that simulates what we will be able to deliver with OIS Why not wait till you can deliver it to show it then
- cstejerean 14y ago
  Because they had to get their announcement in before Apple's event next week. This way, hopefully, some people will hold off on buying the next iPhone and wait for Nokia to actually ship.
  - Dylan16807 14y ago
    With the release coming up, if they don't have the software running on a dev kit by now they have far bigger things to worry about.

brudgers 14y ago

A willingness to apologize is one feature of companies which treat the B2C market as if it were B2B. It's been a core of principle of Microsoft (e.g. their fixing of the Xbox's Red Ring of Death). Compare this with Apple's "Hold Differently" in regard to the iPhone 4 or their simply ignoring the manipulation of the Star Trek and sending the New York Times flash animation down the memory hole in regards to the iPad. Nokia doing so in this case shows why there is such potential for their partnership with Microsoft over the long term. Both companies have similar approaches to the consumer market.

coob 14y ago
"Hold Differently" is a gross misrepresentation of the iPhone 4 antenna issue. What actually happened: A full fledged press conference by the CEO himself basically saying: "This happens to all smartphones, we made it worse by marking the spot, we think performance is still acceptable but if you don't, here have a free bumper as it reduces the problem".
- moe 14y ago
  What actually happened: We did no wrong ... but here have a free bumper And of course this all happened out of pure love and altruism from Apple. Not like it had anything to do with a class action lawsuit or something... http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-57380685-248/settlement-reached-in-iphone-4-antennagate-suit/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-57380685-248/settlement-re... Looks like the reality distortion field is still going strong, even post-Steve.
  - Cushman 14y ago
    Maybe this is a stupid question, but what does a lawsuit settled in 2012 have to do with an announcement made in 2010?
    - moe 14y ago
      The outcome was predictable when it started. Apple's "full fledged keynote" was a maneuver to deflect PR damage. And obviously they succeeded; Many people know about the keynote but don't know that it was an attempt to pre-empt a lawsuit.

seivan 14y ago

Yeah..... never trust Nokia after http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJpEuMidcSU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJpEuMidcSU] They don't grasp how much they hurt themselves with crap like that. If your product isn't good enough to be used in the commercial, then don't sell it.

mtgx 14y ago
That video was hilarious. This is why false advertising shouldn't exist especially when it's about showing how your product works. You can't just show people in ads how the product works drastically better than it actually does in reality. A lot of people would buy it thinking it actually works like advertised. That's just wrong.
- 5teev 14y ago
  Nokia is a company with over 100 years of success behind it, and it approaches new products with the concomitant confidence: they really believe the engineers will be able to pull off whatever the marketers come up with. (Even after, as the video shows, the top of the line N97 fell far short of the hype.)
  - hammersend 14y ago
    So what is your point? The more experience a company has the more naive they're likely to be? That's ridiculous.

thomasz 14y ago

Uh did anyone really think that they shoot an advertisement with a mobile camera?

sjwright 14y ago
If they said they did, then yes.
- thomasz 14y ago
  Seriously, do you think that they did not special effects for the following iphone commercial? I'm not a cameraman, but i guess it's simply impossible to get this quality by just filming a real device. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSAje0EgYjY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSAje0EgYjY
  - Dylan16807 14y ago
    Nobody is complaining that they fake the screen of the device in a commercial. Yes, it's hard to film that. But when you are showing off imagery that is supposed to be coming from the device it had better be accurate.
prof_hobart 14y ago
An advert purporting to show the video quality of the camera? Yes. If it's not showing the actual quality of the image, what is it meant to be showing? "This is what effect image stabilisation has on a vastly different camera. So buy ours"?
megablast 14y ago
It is like what they used to do with video games, where lots of games would not show actual game footage on the backs of the boxes. They would show cut scenes. I expected better from Nokia. They were running on a high after saving the bloggers that Samsung hung out to dry.