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Samsung Mocks Apple Sycophants in Latest Ad

Nov. 23, 2011 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

This is just precious. A new Samsung advertisement goes after the trendy hipster types that stand in line for hours to buy new Apple products, even though in this case--with the iPhone 4S--there are superior devices out there already. The ad nicely parodies the whole Apple Store line experience--you know, because they may not make enough of them, so you better get in line.

My favorite sequence is the hipster who dismissively says, "I could never get a Samsung. I'm creative." To which the guy next to him responds, even more dismissively, "Dude, you're a barista." LOL.

Classic because it's true.

And to be clear, this little moment, from the background of a scene in the ad, is fricking brilliant:

lol_0

PS: I am vaguely distraught that the Samsung lock screen shown in this ad is clearly a rip-off of the Windows Phone lock screen design. Classic Android.

Discuss this Article 8

DJOuk
on Nov 23, 2011
I have to say that some of those passing Android users come across unbearably smug! 'Why don't you just get a Samsung?' and who stops at a line to boost how much superior their phone is over those people are queuing to buy? Reminds me of the 'Im a Mac' advert where people like the non-smug person better.
chuckb84
on Nov 23, 2011
Pretty funny, but I don't know how many phones it'll sell. Telling people "What you like is crap and you're stupid" is not very effective as Apple learned long ago with that notorious "Lemmings" commercial. This is the same approach. Since the iPhone is now the best selling smartphone to businesses, I'm not sure if the stereotype is as accurate as Samsung wishes it was.
pthurrott
on Nov 23, 2011
LOL. Wow. That's ... an interesting take on this. I guess I'd just say that fighting smug with smug makes some sense.
Mustang17
on Nov 23, 2011
Damien, I think its just that they are questioning those who would wait all day and more for a phone that that isnt as technically good as the Samsung, and this seems incredioulous for them. I do agree with you about the Mac ads. The British ones didnt work either because we like the underdog, even the chap who played the Mac agreed. Samsun are hoping the penny will drop for the fanboys.
MikeGalos
on Nov 23, 2011
The line "If it looks the same how will people know I upgraded?" reminds me of The Onion's classic, "I like how the email automatically says 'Sent from a MacBook Wheel". That way people know you have one"
bruceatk
on Nov 23, 2011
The guy didn't stop, he was called over by people in the line because they saw the phone he was using. Somehow that turns into being smug? I love this ad just as much as I loved the Apple ads. Samsung even makes fun of themselves in this ad. It's a nice phone, so's the new iPhone and IOS 5.0 Paul, I have always considered you one of the most open and impartial tech reporters out there, but over the last 8 or 9 months you have definitely let your distaste for Android show in your writing. You are quick to say that they are ripping off others when in fact they really aren't. At least not anymore then Microsoft and Apple have done when standing on the shoulders of others. I'm not a fan of the current chest pounding patent gorilla environment. Especially when the patents are so weak and probably shouldn't have been granted. The lock screen is not a ripoff of Windows Phone 7. Android lets you change the lock screen. Is Samsung choosing to have the time in the lower left corner a ripoff? Look at screenshots of lock screens over the years. Windows Mobile, another OS like Android that lets you customize, had variations of lock screens that look similar. The Windows Phone 7.x lock screen displays the day and date in very large letters and the time smaller, so it doesn't even look the same. Lock screens displaying this information have been around long before Windows Phone or even the iPhone. I am a long time windows user and windows mobile user since before there were windows mobile phones (ie Pocket PC's). I currently own several Windows PC's, a Mac mini, iPod Touch, Dell X51v, and a Droid X and I love them all.
gruntboy50
on Nov 23, 2011
I love hating on hipsters, but I dont buy the argument that the Galaxy is a better phone than the Iphone. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is 100 dollars more expensive, and you have to interface with Android and its ecosystem. Which means a clutter patchwork of Amazon / Google Services. That also means putting up with Google's unfocused see what sticks approach to development. The Iphone has the benefit of not having all the carrier bloatware. The Iphone has a better camera, it has replaced my point and shoot. In time I expect this argument to be moot as competition catches up. the Iphone has the best touch screen keyboard that I have used yet in terms of speed and accuracy. Other vendors made their screens bigger and moved to custom keyboards to compensate for this. Imessage is actually nice as it allowed me to drop my text plan and save me money. Sadly, most of my friends have iphones, so Imessage is nice. Finally, who cares about 4G? Seriously what application on a phone needs 4g Speeds? HD Video conferencing and tethering are the only things I can really think of. Mobile sites are already optimized for the screen size and bandwidth, and The carriers are hell bent on capping 4G service so you just reach your bandwidth allotment faster. I just dont buy the argument that the Galaxy phones are "better". I think there is still an argument for the Iphone. If Verizon would have offered better windows phone devices, it would have been a more serious consideration. As a windows user I am still really hating the fact that I have to interface with Itunes. I spun a virtual machine just to sandbox that piece of crap. However I was desperate to get rid of some clunky awful blackberries. Thus it was the Iphone for me. The good news is the hipsters keep the resale value of the Iphone high, which means I can dump it later If I want. I think there are perfectly reasonable reasons to consider the Iphone. It just sucks that the hipster gives it such a stigma.
subzerohitman721
on Nov 23, 2011
This commercial is nothing short of brilliant. The atypical defenders responding to defend Apple just don't get it. There is no case for the iPhone 4S unless you have an iPhone 3GS. It's a very marginal improvement that doesn't justify it's cost. Samsung brings considerable new technologies to their Galaxy S II & Galaxy Nexus lines. I have a 4th generation iPod Touch but my usage of it has dropped off considerably thanks to the use of my Nexus S 4G. 4" screens matter. It allows the OS to breathe that works better by having the expanded real estate. See the iPad or the Kindle Fire for the proof of that. Having anything faster than 3G is worth it. It really does make a difference. When you're updating or downloading an app? Watching the data get pushed down quickly & not wasting any time is a very precious factor. Especially in business or even in the consumer space if you're a parent! Video conferencing? Absolutely. Android is good enough for most people & the booming sales of Android prove that. The praise of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) has been pretty universal. A lot of regular non-tech folk know it's Android, it's not Apple, & it works. I don't buy the theory that the iPhone is superior. The latest Android phone processors are faster dual & quad-cores. Since Gingerbread, the OS has internal support for multi-core processors. No LTE/Wi-Max technology. 3.5 inch screens are dated. It doesn't matter how high resolution it is. The keyboard is still difficult to type on. Many of the "Damn you auto-correct" meme shots are generally from iPhones. That's not very intuitive. The Nexus S & the Galaxy Nexus has ZERO carrier bloatware. Google doesn't allow the Nexus line to be tainted by carrier or manufacturer's bloat. The Pure Google experience is an absolutely awesome experience.

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