Are scientific facts harmful to Zeiss' marketing?

After Zeiss published an article on the distortion of the new SFL binoculars in its ZEISS Consumer Products Self-Service Portal in August 2024 (for reference, see here), the article was removed two months later. The Zeiss marketing department informed me via phone that the article had sparked controversy, partly online, and that they were therefore concerned about potential negative effects on the product’s image (i.e., the SFL binoculars) and the company itself. For this reason, they decided to stop publishing such technical details about their binoculars in the future.

This naturally raises the question of how the communication of technical details about a technical product could possibly damage its image — or even the company’s image. A trade secret cannot be at stake here, as the underlying scientific research has long been published, found its way into patent applications, and any competitor could easily measure the distortion curves themselves. Instead, did indeed a controversy triggered by this article contribute to the feared damage to Zeiss’s image? The only controversy I am aware of was instigated by Walter E. Schön, a freelance journalist specializing in camera technology, who promotes an ‘alternative theory’ to the globe effect (German language) on his personal website. Yet, his claims are easily proven false (German language) and have never gained any recognition in scientific literature. Mr. Schön took issue with both the form and content of the Zeiss article and stated (German language) that he requested Zeiss to delete the article. Whether this was truly the reason for its removal remains uncertain.

However, I find the entire situation concerning: Zeiss’s tremendous success throughout its long history has always been based on a fruitful collaboration between fundamental research, engineering expertise, and market understanding — beginning with the legendary trio of Carl Zeiss, Ernst Abbe, and Otto Schott. Zeiss should take pride in and confidently communicate the research behind its products. The Internet, including controversial discussions, is not an annoyance but a great marketing opportunity — never before has it been so easy to reach and engage with customers directly. Zeiss should seize this opportunity to communicate scientific and technological progress instead of giving credibility to pseudoscientific background noise and withholding technical details and their significance from customers.