Was It Nutella Or A Sony A1 II?
A viral Reddit entry suggests NASA used digital editing to disguise a Sony camera as a hazelnut spread to protect a million-dollar Nikon contract.
“Suspicious” Nutella jar floats across NASA’s livestream
SAN JOSE, CA — A Reddit entry on r/SonyAlphaStyle posted by user u/SonyShooter_Meridian is gaining massive momentum after suggesting that the "Nutella jar" incident on the Artemis II livestream was actually a Sony A1 II, digitally altered by NASA to protect their standing contract with Nikon.
About four minutes before the Artemis II crew broke the human distance record, a lone jar of Nutella floated through the cabin on the livestream, rotating slowly to reveal the label clearly—appearing, to many, like a perfectly staged advertisement.
NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens shut down product placement claims directly: “NASA does not select crew meals or food in association with brand partnerships. This was not a product placement.” Nutella’s parent company, Ferrero, leaned in regardless, stating: “We always knew Nutella is out of this world, now we have proof!”
The clip lasted about 15 seconds, and the Nutella hashtag briefly surpassed the official #ArtemisII hashtag on X. But u/SonyShooter_Meridian suggests otherwise.
The "Smoking Gun" Frame-Advance
“Okay, before you downvote, hear me out," the user wrote. "I’ve been frame-advancing through the NASA Artemis II livestream VOD for three days. Four. Minutes. Before. The. Distance. Record. A cylindrical object floats through the cabin. Everyone’s laughing about Nutella. Nobody’s asking the real question: Why does a jar of hazelnut spread have a hot shoe? I enhanced the frame at timestamp 14:22:08. The ergonomic profile is wrong for a food container. The grip indentation on the right side—that’s a Sony Multi Interface Shoe cover. The ‘label’ appears at EXACTLY the angle that would obscure the Sony logo.”
What this user and other Sony aficionados are suggesting is that NASA was contractually obligated to keep non-Nikon branded cameras from the viewing audience due to a Space Act Agreement worth millions. As one redditor, u/GlassHalfSony, noted in a comment with 312 upvotes:
“The way it rotated to show the label… that’s not how a full jar of food tumbles in zero gravity. Ferrero filed zero new trademark applications in Q1 2026. IF this was a planned collab, there would be filings. There are none. Because it wasn’t Nutella.”
Sony Rumors Weighs In
Even the site Sony Alpha Rumorschimed in on the conspiracy, writing:
“We’ve received messages from three separate sources—two of whom have been reliable in the past—suggesting that the now-viral ‘Nutella jar’ seen floating through the Orion cabin during the Artemis II livestream was not, in fact, a jar of Nutella. According to our sources, the object was a Sony A1 II, brought aboard by Mission Specialist Christina Koch as a personal item under the crew’s approved personal equipment allowance."
One anonymous source added: “The Nikon Space Act Agreement contains exclusivity language broad enough to cover incidental visual appearances during official NASA broadcasts. Someone made a call. The object needed a label.”
The publication continued by citing independent findings:
The Ferrero Group filed zero new trademark or licensing applications with NASA or its contractors in Q1 2026, per public USPTO records.
NASA’s official response—“This was not a product placement”—is technically consistent with both the Nutella explanation AND the Sony explanation.
The object’s rotation pattern is, at minimum, inconsistent with the center-of-gravity of a full 400g Nutella jar in microgravity, per a physicist who reached out to the site.
Nikon’s contract with NASA (document 39320_SAA8-2339320_Nikon_Inc._Final_Signed.pdf) has been publicly noted in DPReview comments, though its precise exclusivity terms remain private.
NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens told multiple outlets the jar was “simply part of the crew’s approved menu.”
“We have reached out to Sony Electronics for comment but have not heard back. Sony Rumors also reached out to Ferrero North America, noting that their ‘out of this world’ statement does not actually confirm the object was their product.”
Our assessment
Supposedly the “baseplate” of a Sony a1 II disguised a the bottom of a Nutella jar
The Tog Times has investigated some of the more extreme online rumors. Claims that the “bottom of the Nutella jar looked like the baseplate of the Sony A1 II” are categorically false. Furthermore, suggestions that the “a” in Nutella “suspiciously” looks like the Sony Alpha logo cannot be corroborated. Was there an actual “hotshoe” on the “Nutella jar” as Reddit user u/SonyShooter_Meridian suggests? Our pixel-peeping editors do not think so, then, again, they are Nikon users, so …
The April 1st Connection
“We broke the story about it on April 1st—in fact, the day TheTogTimes.com was launched,” said Louis Ferreiraof SonyAddict.com in his article, “BREAKING: NASA Selects Sony as Official Imaging Partner for Artemis Lunar Program — The First New Moon Camera in Over 50 Years.”
Ferreira insists that the camera's presence shouldn't be a surprise to those paying attention. “We definitely knew that Sony was going to be represented: we covered the story when NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and Sony Group Corporation CEO Hiroki Totoki held their pre-launch briefing stating the same."
According to Ferreira, the executives were quite specific:
“They said, and I quote, ‘Artemis II Orion capsule Integrity is carrying a custom-modified Sony Alpha 1 II system aboard.’ I guess this is what they meant.”
As user u/NikonIsNasa commented: “At this point, Sony fanboys just want to be in space as Nikon has been for centuries, and, hahahaha.”
It is worth noting that Sony cameras HAVE been on the ISS exterior, as confirmed by SonyAddict.com and DPReviewcommenters. Sony has a legitimate NASA relationship—just, apparently, not on the Artemis II livestream.
Got something from the internet that deserves coverage? Send it to hello@thetogtimes.com — subject line: From The Net.
The Tog Times is the world’s only satire news publication for photographers. If you found this useful, hilarious, or personally offensive — you’re in the right place.
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