The Nothing Phone (1) was introduced this week to mostly favorable early reviews, but the DearNothing scandal in India also cast a tiny pall over it. If you weren’t aware, this is what happened.
After the formal launch of the Nothing Phone (1), the DearNothing catchphrase quickly spread over Twitter and YouTube. According to The Indian Express , the phrase originated in South India’s tech scene.
Why? It mostly comes down to a YouTube channel.
In the hours after the Nothing Phone (1) introduction, the YouTube channel Prasadtechintelugu posted a video that was meant to be a practical joke about how the channel didn’t get a review unit of the device as many other channels and newspapers did. As it turns out, even while some in other parts of the country received devices, many designers in South India missed out on the initial round of review units for the device.
The channel made a false Nothing Phone (1) box replica for the video, and inside was a note that read:
Hello, Prasad This gadget is not intended for South Indians. I’m grateful.
The note, which was designed to resemble Nothings’ dot-matrix branding, was completely phony and intended as a joke, but many people mistakenly believed it to be a real communication from the Carl Pei-founded business.
Due to the deceptive video, DearNothing became a popular topic on Twitter and received thousands of tweets in a short period of time.
Since then, the original video has been removed, thanks to YouTube Shorts and its producer posting a clarification .
Manu Sharma, Nothing’s vice president and general manager for India, made a comment on the topic on Twitter and outlined the company’s position on dispatching review units.
For us, content is categorized across all Indian media platforms, including print, online, blogs, TV, and (not just) YouTube. We had a strategy for sending devices for Nothing Phone (1) that was meant to be implemented gradually. Many content producers, including journalists who write in regional languages, have received the units as part of the rollout. Overall, it appears that there has been much fuss made over nothing and that there has been a miscommunication.
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