Samsung Brazil got hit with a major controversy earlier this year when it was uncovered that it was using stock photos to promote the camera skills of the Galaxy A8. You’d think the company would have learnt its lesson and stopped doing this forever after the criticism the sneaky move generated, but you’d be wrong.
This time, it’s Samsung Malaysia which is to blame. A quick scroll down the Galaxy A8 Star’s page reveals a quirky photo of a woman holding a leaf to her lips with a red tree in the background. It’s being used to showcase the handset’s background blurring abilities, from level 0 to 7.
Anyone would assume the image was taken by the Galaxy A8 Star’s own 16MP + 24MP dual rear cameras since that’s what the page is clearly hinting at. However, it seems the snap was actually taken by a photographer named Dunja Djudjic using a Nikon D7000.
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She wrote a blog post over at DIYPhotography to blast Samsung over its blatant false advertising. She also pointed out how bad the photoshop was on her face and background, calling the ad a “franken-image.” You’ll notice the background is completely different in the photos, so even the red autumn setting is probably a stock image.
Samsung’s Response To The Controversy
Samsung has responded to the controversy by adding a disclaimer underneath the ad which clarifies that the image is simulated for demo purposes. This is legally correct, but they should really remove the snap completely and replace it with an actual photo taken by the Galaxy A8 Star.
After all, someone who is buying the smartphone should have a proper idea of what its dual cameras are capable of. Pretending a DSLR image is going to be as good as a smartphone image is very misleading.
Of course, Samsung’s not the only one to pull this trick. Even Huawei got caught up in a similar situation a few months ago.