Factory worker becomes internet celebrity as 'iPhone girl'

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 28-Aug-08, 09:15

LONDON - A Chinese factory worker has become an internet sensation after her smiling photos were left on an Apple iPhone that was sold to a customer in Britain, who then uploaded them online.

The girl, an employee of Foxconn which assembles the phones for Apple in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, was snapped by a co-worker who was testing the device's camera.

The co-worker apparently forgot to delete the pictures from the phone and it was then shipped to a customer in Kingston-upon-Hull, who last week posted three images on the MacRumors.com website.

Markm49uk, who uploaded the images, wrote on the site: "It appears someone on the production line was having a bit of fun. Has anyone else found this?"

His posting received hundreds of responses and some customers joked that they were considering returning their phones because they did not come loaded with the woman's photo.

Foxconn has described the incident as a "beautiful mistake" and has given an assurance that the iPhone girl and her supervisor would not be penalised, according to a report in the China Daily.

However, some MacRumors.com users hit out at Markm49uk, accusing him of irresponsible behaviour for risking the girl's job by posting the photos online.

One poster named 'Demon' wrote: "The guy who posted the photos to the world should be fired. Things like that should be left private and dealt with via Apple and Foxconn. NOT posted for the world to see... if that girl really did get fired, it would be entirely due to the idiot who posted her photo on the World Wide Web."

In response to his attackers, Markm49uk wrote: "I guess I figured that the photos would be of interest to the wider iPhone community and it would appear my guess was correct given the hundreds of thousands of hits across the internet.

"Unfortunately yes it was a risk to post them but if it's judged to be in the public interest then I think the decision was the correct one -- at the end of the day the girl in the photo is ultimately responsible for her actions."

See the forum here.

Comments

Daisy Noelle - 28/08/2008

I personally don't see anything wrong with taking the pictures. Its cheeky but big deal, this is free publicity for the iPhone and it gives them a human touch...maybe that sounds silly but Skoda did thiswith their ads(showing the human element to their factory). Assuming apple is fine with the public knowing that the iPhone is made in China.

Sean Ruttledge - 29/08/2008

OK I think its a lovely, cute story but really what is the big deal ? how does this become a meme and spread like viral wildfire ? Beats the crap out of me