The OnePlus Nord documentary is super weird, but I’ll see it all anyway

OnePlus is expected to launch a new budget phone called the OnePlus Nord July 10. On the surface, this sounds like a typical phone industry news tidbit not worth thinking about. But the Chinese phone maker is spending a whopping amount of energy promoting what is essentially a less than $ 500 phone that will be available only in the UK and India for now.

For example, he created not one, but two Instagram accounts, one perhaps prematurely for the name “Lite Z Thing” and the other for what appears to be the official code name for “Nord”. She’s also releasing a four-part series on YouTube about the development of the phone. You can watch the first 10-minute episode below.

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to promote your product, and OnePlus is no stranger to unorthodox tactics. When it started, the company had an invitation-only system for customers to buy their phonesand establish emerging stores in key markets. On a nastier note, OnePlus also launched, and then quickly ended, a campaign that encourages women to send photos of themselves to get a free OnePlus One phone in 2014. Not for nothing, but OnePlus made no way in the Overcrowded phone industry, where Apple and Samsung rule it all, playing around with boring ad campaigns.

But the decision to let the cameras follow top executives, department heads, and employees during the creation of the OnePlus Nord is a strange one. About six minutes after the video, a tense discussion breaks out between two employees. In the end, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei scolds his staff for being on their computers during a meeting, only to be punished later for being on their phone. It is the limit of reality TV show levels which, while interesting (I will definitely be watching the next episode), it is strange to expose potential customers.

Although they are not at Apple’s level of secrecy, companies like Samsung and Google would still not allow such an intimate appearance. And there is a good reason too. While I don’t doubt there is as much, if not more, infighting and disagreement occurring within these companies, as a potential buyer, you might view it as unprofessional and inappropriate. It’s like watching in-laws fight at the table – it happens and there’s nothing too bad about it, I just don’t want to be there when it falls.

Maybe it’s the way OnePlus looks authentic and raw, but you can never be authentic when the cameras are rolling, and it’s weird to think of tech employees, designers, and engineers, who are probably not media-trained, unknowingly . of an audience. It’s also important to note that OnePlus is producing this series, so everyone, executives in particular, will surely come to light in general.

Also, what about the overwhelming feeling of pressure and urgency? I know it’s great drama and television, but all the intense conversations about the deadline are exhausting and ultimately self-imposed. OnePlus is choosing to launch this product now, and it’s one that people will eventually spend their own money to buy. Even if the whole process is rushed, you certainly don’t want your consumers to know that this phone was put together quickly

Again, the frenetic pace of the video can have a dramatic effect, especially considering that the video ends with a cliffhanger-esque acknowledgment of the COVID-19 outbreak. And I’m sure everything will be resolved in the fourth episode. But I don’t know how good it is to let people participate in the job drama that unfolded during the development of the phone. People seldom want to see how sausage is made because frankly, it is awkward to know. And the only thing worse than inter-office fights is watching inter-office fights at another company I don’t even work for.

At one point in the video, a designer, Matthias Czaja, says the OnePlus Nord’s visual identity is supposed to be “very clean and quiet …” However, given what the first episode showed so far, the process is everything otherwise. However, I will still be watching, because why not? (And spoiler alert! The phone is made because pre-orders are already live, even though specifications have not yet been released.)