Canon, that’s a mess!

One thing is sure, Canon worked hard on the promotional campaign to launch the Canon EOS 5D Mark II (the nearly official name of the successor to the Canon EOS 5D digital SLR). But one thing more is obvious: They are starting to shoot themselves in the foot.

A perfectly planned teasing with announces, leaks, partial information banners, specialized mini site, etc. The public is held panting in advance waiting for the launch on September 17th (08:00 AM in Europe).

But the photo press has been hit with strong arm tactics to respect the embargo included in the Non-Disclosure Agreement. This is all natural and normal; here. Except that the information is leaking from every possible source right now, because the embargo signed by some (all?) has a deadline… before the dreaded 17th September.

Consequence: Canon is now trying to convince all the press to respect a rather flimsy silence clause. It probably covers all the spectrum from “Please, wait a little more” to “Boy! if you squeak, you’ll see the judge” through a more humane “if you speak now, we will never give you any Canon information in the coming century“.

Of course, this is not easy (neither for Canon, or for the press). It’s hard to boldly ignore Canon, but the temptation to speak a little is there. See EOS-Numérique, see Chasseur d’Images, etc. The one who speaks attracts a lot of attention, a lot of advertising, a lot of readers. The silent one knows that Canon will appreciate it, but may be loosing readers, visitors, and maybe some money…

Canon marketing and communication, you should be ashamed of yourself.