No More Fine Print—Xiaomi 17’s Price-Cut Poster Goes All-In on Big, Bold Text

Xiaomi really does seem to be moving away from fine print.

Today, Xiaomi officially announced its “Tech New Year Shopping Festival,” revealing that the Xiaomi 17 will receive discounts of up to RMB 300. Alongside the announcement, the company released a new promotional poster—and for the first time, the usual “tiny footnotes” that people often need a magnifying glass to read are nowhere to be found.

From the poster itself, it’s clear that the campaign details are now presented entirely in large, easy-to-read text, making the key information immediately visible at a glance.

This is a noticeable change from last year’s Tech New Year Festival discount posters, where event terms and promotional details were squeezed into small print at the bottom.

In the past, Xiaomi’s “fine-print marketing” drew plenty of complaints online. Responding to the criticism today, Xiaomi acknowledged that many people consider “small-print notes” an unfortunate industry habit—and said the company is starting with itself and making immediate improvements.

Xiaomi explained that the fine print was originally used to meet legal and compliance requirements, but admitted it overlooked the user experience. The company also stressed that equating compliance-related notes with “false advertising” is a major misunderstanding. Still, Xiaomi said it has now instructed all teams to present important explanations and annotations clearly in large text.

Previously, during Lei Jun’s New Year livestream, he and Xiaomi Group PR General Manager Xu Jieyun addressed the “fine print controversy” directly. Xu said the small text was mainly driven by advertising law compliance, but emphasized that Xiaomi accepts the public’s feedback with humility.

Lei Jun added that Xiaomi will pay closer attention to how it communicates in future product promotions to avoid misunderstandings—or having wording exploited maliciously. He noted that Xiaomi will aim for clearer, more straightforward expressions in posters and presentation slides, reducing the chance of confusion.

During the livestream, Xu also shared that Xiaomi had already begun paying closer attention to the fine-print issue toward the end of 2025, signaling that this shift has been in motion for some time.