Big marketing fail: Panasonic has used Stock photos shot on other camera to promote the new Lumix S9

ちなみに12-32mmの作例っぽい写真で話題になってるアレはコレらしい。

EOS 5DsR
428mm F5.3
レンズはタムロン150-600mm G2https://t.co/VxN9pxCrlw https://t.co/sAC1zMPLzY pic.twitter.com/XZXn6jQc0A

— とるなら (@FukuiAsobiWeb) May 27, 2024

FukuiAsobiWeb spotted quite an incredible marketing mistake made by Panasonic. The company used stock photos shot on Canon/Nikon and other Panasonic cameras to promote the new Lumix S9 (see the example above shot on the Canon EOS 5DsR). While Panasonic disclosed that not all images were shot on the S9 this is a major fail. The good news is that Panasonic Japan was quick in responding and issued the following note (google translated at the bottom).

My take, other companies did this ins the past, so this is not an “exclusivity” from Panasonic. But my position on this is clear: Always use images shot on the camera fro two reasons:

1. Rarely somebody reads the notes in a long press text and production page
2. And it damn looks bad if you need images shot on other cameras to promote your new camera!

The Press text from Panasonic (google translated)

About the images on the LUMIX S9 product website
We have received a number of enquiries about the images used on the product website for the new LUMIX S9 full-size mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera.
We have received a number of inquiries regarding the images used on the LUMIX S9 full-size mirrorless camera website.
The images used on the product website to introduce functions and scenes were partially licensed images from a stock photo service.
In addition to insufficient consideration of whether the images were appropriate for the product pages of a camera that generates creativity
In addition, the annotations on the website were in a location and with content that was difficult for customers to understand, as they were not taken with the new product.
We take your comments seriously and have changed our mind,
We will make the content easier to understand and communicate with users in a user-friendly manner.
As a camera manufacturer, we will strive to meet your expectations,
We will discuss a review of the content of the LUMIX website so that we can meet your expectations as a camera manufacturer.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere condolences to our loyal customers and to all LUMIX fans and camera enthusiasts,
We are very sorry for the anxiety and concern this situation has caused to our loyal customers, LUMIX fans and camera enthusiasts,
We are very sorry for the anxiety this has caused to our loyal customers, LUMIX fans and camera fans.
All of us involved promise to face everyone more sincerely and make changes,
We will renew our commitment.

P.S.: If you ask yourself WHY such a mistake could happen, the answer is easy: the marketing budget is small and the use of stock photos is cheap.