Nikon's FB post goes viral due to photoshopped winning entry

SINGAPORE — A post on Nikon Singapore's Facebook page has gone viral with over 25,000 likes, close to 19,000 shares and 4,000 replies — but for all the wrong reasons.

In the post — which has since been deleted —, the camera maker had awarded Mr Chay You Wei a Nikon trolley bag worth S$169 for being the week's NikonCaptures winner. He had submitted a black and white photo of an aeroplane flying overhead framed by a ladder, one which many netizens have pointed out to be a badly-photoshopped image. 

Several have pointed out that the "aeroplane" in question is almost identical to vector images that can be easily found on the Internet, while others have responded with memes and sarcasm to deride the situation. Many have digitally manipulated the photo to include popular pop culture icons, such as Pokemon, James Bond and Star Wars, as well as local landmarks.

Mr Chay has since taken to Instagram to apologise to Nikon and the photography community for his oversight. "I would have done it with photoshop if I really meant to lie about it, but no, it was a playful edit using the PicsArt app and uploaded to Instagram... I crossed the line by submitting the photo for a competition. I meant it as a joke and I'm really sorry to Nikon for disrespecting the competition," he wrote.

Earlier at 1.30pm today (Jan 30), Nikon Singapore posted a new post and replied to the Facebook post in question, apologising for the oversight while noting that NikonCaptures is a casual photography contest that focuses not on the devices or props used, but "on the imagination and creativity that each photographer exudes while capturing and sharing their images". 
 
The camera company said: "We have taken in every feedback received, and we sincerely apologise for the oversight on our part. We are now in the process of carefully revisiting the contest’s rules and regulations, for the benefit of all our current NikonCaptures members. We will update everyone of the contest rules once we have revisited all of them."

Taking their mistake in good spirit, they also added: "At the same time, we welcome the funny and witty entries being shared in response to our recently awarded image. It’s with joy that we acknowledge that the global photography and image community is alive and thriving. We thank you for the numerous spontaneous contributions and encourage everyone to keep the imagination alive." 

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