The new Lumix S9 camera launch has been a disaster for Panasonic (see this, this, this, and this posts). The company has now issued a final statement acknowledging that 77 stock photos not shot with a Panasonic camera or lens were used to promote Panasonic products (still, they did not address the bogus "short supply" press release):
We would like to thank you for your continued interest in LUMIX products.
Regarding the recent incident in which inappropriate images were used through a stock photo service on the Lumix product website, we deeply regret that this incident was caused by our clear lack of awareness of the images used, even though we are a camera manufacturer, and our lack of an appropriate image selection and checking process, which is essential when creating a website for a camera product.
Up until now, we have conducted a detailed check of all images used on the LUMIX product website, and have removed images using stock photo services. We have also revised the LUMIX product website based on the following principles: "All images used must be taken with our own camera products," and "For images taken with other models of our own cameras, images with the same mount or similar pixel count must be used, and the equipment used must be clearly stated." We have now completed our response.
Going forward, in order to firmly establish our commitment to the "examples" of LUMIX products, we will continue to update our website this fall, for example by replacing images taken with other models of our own cameras with images taken with the relevant models. We take the opinions and comments we have received seriously, and will continue to work on improvements in order to regain the trust of our customers as soon as possible.
Please be advised that the following changes have been made to the site:
*The DC-GH7 website, which was added on June 6th, was created and published based on the above principles. (source)
More bad news for Panasonic: Lumix S9 product page controversy and the use of stock photos *UPDATED*
Can you believe this: the Panasonic S9 camera will be in short supply because of high demand?