Xiaomi use live crabs to test the Mi4, upset some international fans


Xiaomi recently posted a video on their Facebook page showing the use of live crabs and lobster to test their Mi4, some fans are not impressed.

The video (below) which shows Xiaomi staff visiting a fish market and choose a couple of crab and a lobster, was originally posted around 2 weeks ago in China, but this weekend was again shared on the official Xiaomi Facebook page.

Testing the strength of phones through means more interesting than simply dropping them has been a great marketing tool for brands, but so far Xiaomi are the only company to have chosen the use of live animals.

The test shows the crabs and lobster snapping at the Mi4 before ending with a question asking if the Mi4 will pass the lobster test. During the video the sea creatures are help upside down and made to chop vegetables and even a glass cup.

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Xiaomi only seem to have posted the video on their Facebook but a copy has also been uploaded to Youtube:

Some fans have unsurprisingly posted unhappy comments about the use of animals in the video on the Xiaomi Facebook page. Some comments also point that they should be more considerate towards international tastes and ideals.

[ Xiaomi Facebook ]
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17 Comments

  1. February 16, 2015

    the next steps will be : swordfish, hammer-fish. sharks etc. so stay tuned.
    and just buy “Xiaomi ” yeah !

  2. Xalis
    February 16, 2015

    What a butch of girls.

    Did they use the crab has hammer? did they hammer a crab and it exploded then hammered a Mi4 to show how strong it is? no?

    Stop crying.

    First World Problems.

    • Marius Cirsta
      February 16, 2015

      Please try to understand that different people have different opinions on what OK and what’s not. It’s a matter of personal opinions but also of culture.
      Just try to have a beer in public in a Muslim country and I think you’ll understand what I mean. You can them tell them to stop complaining about it, it was just a beer, you weren’t doing heroin or cocaine so why are you in prison.
      For some what Xiaomi did is not OK and I think I tend to agree with these opinions. Animals shouldn’t be exploited because they have no way of fighting back or defending themselves.
      You’ll probably never understand this but try to understand the first part about different people having different views on things.

    • roi jjer
      February 16, 2015

      Omggggggg they are hurting the poor little crab omgggggggggggg

  3. balcobomber25
    February 16, 2015

    Considering those animals were going to be sold, killed and eaten I think phone testing is the worst of their problems.

    • Marius Cirsta
      February 16, 2015

      This might be true but they’re killed for food which is a bit different than putting them on display to showcase a product. At least this is one opinion.
      Besides this there are people that are probably vegetarians and don’t really want to see this kind of thing even though as you say they’d end up as food anyway.
      I eat fish but I don’t like it when I see live fish on display in the supermarket. If you’re going to eat at least don’t make them suffer until you do.

      • thesecondbest
        February 16, 2015

        Nature has always been merciless. The strongest survive. We have managed to evolve to what we are today only because we learnt to kill better than our competitors. If I was the food in some parallel universe I’d choose to be that crab who is getting some screen time instead of being gutted, cooked and yeah at last eaten.

        • Marius Cirsta
          February 16, 2015

          As I was saying opinions vary a lot … some might even be ridiculous but we should try to take them into account as much as possible.
          I for one think a test with trying to bend a Mi4 ( like the Iphone bend test ) would have been good enough and I could have done without the crab test.

          • balcobomber25
            February 18, 2015

            “some might even be ridiculous but we should try to take them into account as much as possible.”

            The problem is people all have different opinions, if you try to take everyone’s into account there would never be any adverts. I showed this advert to everyone in my office. Out of 30 people ranging from all different demographics (including one vegan), there wasn’t a single person that was “outraged” over this. Most said “I have seen far worse from adverts”. That is just one sample of people but I am willing to bet the majority of people aren’t losing sleep over this.

            • Marius Cirsta
              February 18, 2015

              Not loosing any sleep over this but I would be rather had an instrument with a digital display showing the strength rather than showing of with a crab.
              IMO what they did is stupid and silly but that my opinion, everyone is entitled to their own.

        • February 21, 2015

          This is superficial observation of nature. Nature is pure love, the wolf dont kill sheep to make any harm just to eat. The human is different, he kill for pleasure.

      • balcobomber25
        February 18, 2015

        So killing an animal is okay but keeping it alive to showcase a product is wrong? Why do vegetarians care that someone isn’t killing and eating an animal? Your logic makes zero sense. Are you positive these animals were even “suffering”?

        • Marius Cirsta
          February 18, 2015

          Killing animals for food is the way it’s always been, it’s the human way of life and for that matter what every predator does.
          Killing animals just for fun or exploiting them is something that I disagree with.
          I’m not sure about the vegetarians.
          The correct statement here is makes zero sense to me, just because my logic makes zero sense to you doesn’t mean it makes zero sense to everyone you know.

          • balcobomber25
            February 18, 2015

            So using crabs in a silly advert is now on the same level as killing them just for fun? Do you personally know that they were “Exploited”? Where you there to witness what Xiaomi did with them before or after? If I have a pet dog and I use it to test the strength of my phone, is that exploiting my pet? I used my pet when I went to buy a new car to see if she could fit in the back, was I exploiting it there? Or is it only exploiting when we have an agenda to make?

  4. Mesterio
    February 16, 2015

    Sounds to me like people are getting Crabby over nothing 🙂

  5. roi jjer
    February 16, 2015

    they should be more considerate towards international tastes for sure. Some people don’t like eating crabs

  6. Xcurior
    February 16, 2015

    So maybe it didn’t pass the lobster test hence why they didn’t show it, they just want to imply that it will. The lobster clearly looks more powerful, having crushed the glass lol.