‘DearNothing’ controversy: company officially responds to boycott Nothing Phone (1) calls

Published On: July 14, 2022

Highlights

Nothing recently unveiled its first-ever smartphone, the Nothing Phone (1).
Alongside the launch, a controversy followed, as a Telugu YouTuber alleged that the brand had shown regional partiality by not giving him review units.
The creator produced a “fake” letter, which read that the Nothing Phone (1) was “not for the South Indian people.”

Controversies are nothing new when it comes to technology, especially smartphones. We keep hearing about fights, arguments, and debates surrounding brands, software updates, prices, and more across the social media platforms, but mixing technology with region/religion takes things to a whole other level of low. Nothing, a young brand, recently launched its second-ever product in general and its first-ever smartphone in the history of its existence, dubbed the Nothing Phone (1). Now, whether the Nothing Phone (1) is any good is a topic for some other day, but we can certainly assume that the launch must have been pretty special for the brand, and they would have anticipated a warm welcome by the tech community.

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Sadly, things did not go as smooth as expected, as right after the launch when the embargo on the Nothing Phone (1) was lifted, a YouTuber by the name Prasad Tech in Telugu posted a video about the device and how Nothing was being partial towards South Indian creators. The video caused quite a stir on social media, and hashtags like #DearNothing and #BoycottNothing started trending on Twitter. In response, Nothing has released a strongly worded statement, but first a bit of background.

Nothing Phone (1) launch controversy

Right after the video (now removed) was uploaded, fans of the creator started posting comments on Twitter and other social media platforms under the posts, which were regarding the Nothing Phone (1) (and even the posts which were not). This massive outrage helped hashtags like #DearNothing and #BoycottNothing to trend on Twitter.

The YouTuber acknowledged the trend, thereby encouraging more to add to it. Now, in all fairness, the creator claimed South Indian creators had often been ignored, not only by Nothing, but by many other smartphone brands. He even produced a fake Nothing box, which had a letter, which many thought to be as official communication from Nothing, reading that the Nothing Phone (1) was not for the South Indian people. Unfortunately, the creator failed to mention in the video that the letter was his own creation and the brand had “Nothing” to do with it. The Nothing-styled fonts made the letter look pretty convincing and this led to many believing that Nothing actually sent him the letter.

The creator later added a disclaimer in the comments section on YouTube, saying that the letter was not sent by the brand, but it was too little too late by then. Furthermore, many who consume YouTube content ignore the comments section. This is usually the case with the YouTube audience consuming content on large-screen devices, like a smart TV. So, there are chances that his disclaimer had been ignored by many, and they kept believing that the brand had the audacity to send him the said letter.

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Finally, Nothing had to intervene, and Manu Sharma, Nothing GM and Vice President, posted a letter on Twitter, which at least tried to clear the air. The letter states that the Nothing Phone (1) was intended to be sent to the creators in a phased manner.

pic.twitter.com/MnUcqnaj4N
— Manu Sharma (@buildingnothing) July 13, 2022

As a matter of fact, the brand did seed it to many content creators, including regional language journalists, so the YouTuber’s claims hold little ground in the first place. The letter also informed everyone of the fake letter and how the brand had nothing to do with the same.

Till now, things appear to be running back and forth, as we have been noticing on Twitter, but more and more people tend to have started inclining towards the fact that it was not the brand’s fault. Amid all this chaos, we certainly hope that the prime intent is not lost, and people do consider the Nothing Phone (1) as a new piece of technology, and not a tool to create regional divide. We have already unboxed the Nothing Phone (1) for our readers and viewers. If you are interested in checking it out, you can head to our previous coverage for the same.