Samsung wants you to buy its Galaxy S II instead of an iPhone 4S, duh. So how are they going to do it? How about mocking the extreme popularity of the latter, a device they help build? Worth a shot!
The ad, entitled “Next Big Thing” — an obvious Apple dig — paints those waiting in line for hours with the hope of buying an iPhone as brainwashed consumer drones. Which, maybe, yeah, some of them are. But it mostly comes across as more smug than the ostensible Smug Apple arsehole trope they’re playing off of. I don’t care if I wasn’t asked to prom, it’s for losers anyway, Samsung smirks. In reality, Samsung would be thrilled to have people regularly lining up to buy its phones.
But the underdog tactic could work! I mean, a lot of these eager Apple buyers did spend hours and hours struggling to buy a phone that simply wasn’t that much different from what came before it. And there’s plenty to skewer there. But does it really make sense for Sammy to mock the iPhone’s hardware itself? Hardware that’s chock full of Samsung parts?
Corey
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 7:46 AMWhen you can’t beat the best, emulate them. When you fail at emulating them, insult them. Oh Samsung you are a joke.
Antonia
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:18 AMI agree with the ad’s premise, “Don’t choose a phone based on hype”. The Samsung Galaxy S2 is clearly a better smartphone.
MotorMouth
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:43 AMQueue up much for an iPhone, did we? Seriously, do you think Samsung write their own TVCs? Some very clever ad agency has come up with a very clever campaign, which speaks to the majority of people, who think that queuing up for the latest gadget is about as lame as it gets. It is brilliant and I bet everyone who worked on it has an iPhone.
olearymo
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:08 AMWhat an interesting take on things.
I’m planning on buying an iPhone 4S in the next few months. Guess how I’m going to do it? I’m going to go into the store and buy one. No lines. Because I’m not an idiot (or at least, if I am an idiot, I’m not the sort who lines up for things you can easily buy several days / weeks later).
Having an iPhone or Apple product doesn’t make someone a fool. Acting like a fool about it, does. One can act just as much a fool about a Samsung product or other.
olearymo
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:11 AMsorry I actually meant that comment to be in the main timeline, not a reply.
doubleDizz
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 12:41 PMThe passive-aggressive fanboyisms in these posts is amazing haha. Nice work jokers
TSH
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:25 AMIIRC Samsung (or Telstra… not sure which) ran a promo in a particular Sydney store where every day they’d sell 10 SGS2s for $1 each, to whoever the first 10 people were to ask for one. The store ended up with lines outside it for the duration of the promotion.
The ad is effective because it says “wanking over your tech is foolish.” Check the clothes and apparent occupation of everyone holding a Samsung in that ad: they clearly have better things to do that day and are only using the thing in brief pauses in their schedule.
Lord Crumplebottom
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:52 AMDifference being people lined up for a bargain (an insanely good bargain) instead of lining up to fork over $800 for an unreleased product.
cayal
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:10 AMThat they could get a few weeks later without waiting in line.
Rooboy
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:40 AM+1
Jamie
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:54 AMBetter do it sooner than the “next few months”. There’ll be a new one out then and you’ll have to line up for it.
olearymo
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 1:12 PMwhy would I have to line up for it? That’s my whole point. I wouldn’t.
cayal
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 2:32 PMBut by that time the one you weren’t lining up for would be ‘obsolete’ (in apple terms) because of the cool “new” one released.
Just This Guy ...
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 4:46 PMExactly the type of fool thinking they rely on.
And apparently survive on.
SamBroomby
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 6:33 PMYou do know that the angle was to entice the viewer by going to the most hardcore of fans and showing that you can turn them. It isn’t specific to the people who have corresponding behaviours to that in the ad. I can make an ad about soft tissues, it applies to people who use tissues, not just the actors in the ad.
Just This Guy ...
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 4:47 PMOohh Corey. One of the fools that lined up are we?
Hitting a bit close to the bone maybe?
Apollo
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:00 PMI’ll say it just because noone else did…
UMADBRO?
vu
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 1:54 PMClearly you are mistaken, Samsung have sold more phones than Iphone.
furball
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:00 AMThe as is hysterical. It just paints the fanbois as they are, sad mindless drones.
“It looks the same! How will people know I upgraded”
Aaaaaaaaaand there you have it.
Wok
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 2:21 PM+1
Rooboy
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:06 AMYa way to win over new customers from Apple Scamsung.. making a mockery of your customer base is the best way to end up last
Antonia
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:22 AMMaking a mockery of people who make decisions based solely on the hype from advertising executives is a good thing to. Asking people to make decisions based on facts is also a good thing. The ad does both.
DarkAura
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:41 AMNot Really, The only people who will be up set with this is the true Apple fan boys. Samsung is silly enough to worry about turning them away from Apple, Its just not going to happen.
What Samsung are doing here is breaking down years of Apple is perfect lies made by Apple adds. Apple did the same sort of thing with the I’m a pc and I’m a Mac adds to Microsoft and it was very effective.
There are a lot of people who buy Iphones because they think its really there only choice, With adds like these people (not the true fanboys) are going to see that there are other choices that are still “cool” (and as i think much better choices).
Its about the masses they just buy Iphone just because, Not the fanboys..
DarkAura
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:42 AMSorry…. I don’t know how that was sent with out proof reading :-(
Must be righting this from a mac *wink* jk
Adam
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:49 AM*writing
mattt
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 12:47 PM*without :)
JT....
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 1:38 PM*Sorry.
Ian
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:24 AMThey are only poking fun at Apple idiots, the same way Apple did to PC. The PC users weren’t up in arms about that, so why are you getting so hot under the collar? Maybe it is because it is TRUE! (And yes, I am an Android user….)
Rooboy
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:51 AMthe difference is that the “I’m a PC and I’m a MAC” ads weren’t using ‘customers’ as their point of mockery (OK the PC dude was a douche in a suit, and the MAC was a couch potatoe/casual dude) but these are generalisations that are still accepted today … most PC users are business class users and although declining in numbers, more creative types use OSX.
The ad in this example mocks the customer base.. ok well Apple idiots who line up outside the stores (Yes I am an apple owner, and no, I’d never line up for any product, unless she was 18 & 38,24,36)
Steve
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 3:43 PMWhat do you think those character actors were? They were embodied stereotypes of Mac and PC users.
“but these are generalisations that are still accepted today … most PC users are business class users and although declining in numbers, more creative types use OSX”
‘still accepted’ by you maybe. But both ad campaigns are painting caricatures, so how come you draw the line at when Samsung does it? Is it just because you, personally, feel slighted by it? Because that’s a huge double standard. Both of these companies are having a dig at each others’ userbases.
Rooboy
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 4:33 PMno Steve, as I said above, the Apple version worked with stereotypes and Samsungs ad is using actors as ‘real’ people..
I guess the best way to explain it to simple minded folks, like yourself, would be:
imagine an ad against sexual assault, one ad has two actors, each actor is the stereotypical abusive spouse (one man and one woman, so the feministas don’t get cranky) .. they stand quietly and debate back and forth the cons of sexual assault and then the PSA is shown at the end of the add …
Now imagine another ad against sexual assault… except this time instead of showing stereotypical behaviour, they show young girls and boys being violently assaulted while their assaulters talk about the cons of sexual abuse..then the PSA is shown again..
These two ads are pitched for the same cause, but take ‘wildly’ different approaches… same as above…
One is a generalisation that lets the viewer decide the rights and wrongs of the ad, the other provides an audio and visual queues to enhance their point..
If you really can’t grasp the difference, you may need to take some marketing and phsyc coures mate.
PS: I’ll guarantee I give Scamdung more money every year than you do! Infact we gave them $3000 last week… damn fridges….
Anon
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 9:10 AMUsing the term Scamdung shows just how immature you are. Your post just shows the ignorant attitude of Apple fanbois that most people hate.
Rooboy
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 4:37 PMPPS: for your quote: ‘still accepted’ by you maybe’ .. um noooo…. accepted by the wider open market backed up by consumer surveys around the world…
Steve there is much more to the world than that which revolves around your tiny shoulders
Steve
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 5:35 PMYou can’t seem to grasp subtlety. Your example of sexual abuse isn’t even analogous, because both of these ad campaigns aren’t presenting side of a discussion then asking for input. They both use actors, behaving and dressed in a way that perpetuates partisan tech stereotypes. I hope you honestly don’t think the Mac vs PC ads had those two actors pretending to be COMPUTERS, because they were obviously meant to be archetypes of their specific demographics hence the PC user was a caricature of an awkward, overweight, chlub, rather than a single character.
You draw the line because this uses ‘real people’? They’re no more real than the Mac vs PC characters. Overblown stereotypes that nitpick at each others’ insecurities. The only difference I can see is that this commercial uses multiple extras, rather than Justin Long. But the length of that particular campaign played up the Mac/PC divide from almost every angle, certainly not the specifics here.
Ahahah “you may need to take some marketing and phsyc coures”, you don’t know a single thing about me. If I were to rattle off accreditations in this field, you’d know I’ve had enough for 10 lifetimes. Your attempts to deflect by questioning my credentials reeks of insecurity. It’s a simple ad campaign but your explosive persecution complex coupled with your confirmed bias is evident that it hits too close to home for you and my advice is to simply get a thicker skin if you think Samsung is going out of its way to insult you, Rooboy, specifically.
Box Guru
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 1:15 PMI’d say PC users weren’t up in arms about those ads simply because PC users have never felt the need to defend their choice of a PC.
Apple users on the other hand seem to be constantly defending Apple products and their choice of Apple products. Case in point Rooboy.
By the way, for those that aren’t too bright – the “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC” campaign was actually mocking the PC customer base.
MrDarceh
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:17 AMbut i get the feeling that samsung wouldn’t require people to queue for unreasonable lengths of time, after all the other stores in the area have opened ;)
I own an iPhone. I still found this funny. Learn to take a joke
Adam
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:30 AMlol. Thats a funny ad.
Apple used to do the same sort of advertising, remember those Mac vs PC adds?
Samsung is just mocking Apple, as Apple used to mock Windows.
You can hate Samsung, but they arent putting technology in a phone which has been around for years and make everyone believe it is new.
Lord Crumplebottom
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:46 AMAgreed. How soon people forget the anti-PC ads. But there we go…
I’d used both iPhone and SGS2 before settling on a preference for the SGS2 due to what I need it to do. That and iTunes annoys the hell out of me :)
Kevin
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:32 AMI thought the ad was effective. I have an iPhone 4 but I tell you, the Galaxy S II looks pretty good.
Cameron
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:34 AMIt’s nice to see some ad’s every now and that that have a bit of fun instead of just bombarding you with how great their product it.
Sciptic
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:35 AM“I could never get a Samsung, I’m too creative”
“Dude you’re a barista”
Don’t the hipsters realise that in trying to be different they all end up wearing the same uniform?
cayal
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:53 AMIt’s like people who are against conformists yet they conform to conform against it.
Apple User
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:35 AMI’m an Apple user, but still don’t have an iPhone. I’ll consider getting an iPhone when the first 3 options when calling up support are about something other than iphones and ipads while as a mac pro user I have to hit ’4′ for ‘everything else’.
I’m sure iPhones are/were cool but as a ‘creative’, I can’t say I’ve missed anything by not being apart of this adolescent technology, arguing with the other primitives in the playground about who’s phone gets a faster dialup speed connection and looks cooler.
moggyx
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:40 AM“I’m Creative”…. “Dude, You’re a barista”
Awesome :)
DarkAura
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:52 AMThat was my fav part!
BenDTU
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 8:59 AMI gotta say it’s pretty clever of them to play off the “OH MY GOD THE NEW IPHONE DOESN’T HAVE A BIGGER SCREEN OR 4G” crowd.
That being said I can’t really see this ad working for anyone other than the clueless tell-me-what-to-buy-and-I’ll-buy-it crowd.
Matt
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:05 AMWelcome to 83% of the population.
BenDTU
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:33 AMPretty much. And that makes me sad.
TSH
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:35 AMMost of the population doesn’t read tech blogs or reviews – they still rely on advertising and in-store sales to guide their purchasing decisions. Which is great when an ethical salesman (as I used to be, while barely making budget) gives them honest help; but not so great when they’re only hearing one side (Apple’s) of a multifaceted story (the whole smartphone market).
It’s taken a bloody long time, but finally other phone companies are cottoning on to the fact that clever ads make an impression without necessarily getting down to brass tacks.
Thorbjørn
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:38 AMHow about Samsung present their side of the smartphone market rather than just trying to discredit Apple’s side then?
Apple doesn’t claim that their competitors are terrible. In their recent ads they don’t even claim to be the best. They only say it’s the most amazing iPhone yet. Where as this ad’s point is that the iPhone isn’t as good as a SGS2.
I may sound like a fanboy and yes I do own an iPhone which I very much like. But I’ve always hated ads that simply try to make their competitor’s product seem bad. Why not do like Apple? Present your product as an amazing revolutionary product.
S0ULphIRE
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:17 AMAnd then sue everybody. Yeah, be like Apple!
Sicarius123
Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 9:49 AMWow, so you have never seen the mac vs pc ads?
Alex
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:05 AMlove it
Nath
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:17 AMAwesome, I love it!
JonBOY
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:25 AMThe SII, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S are all awesome phones and I’d happily own any of them.
There’s absolutely no point even trying to claim one of better than the other because different people have different needs and priorities, and as such different phones suit different people better.
George
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:46 AMAndrioD suX!!!!!!
Argument over!
:p
mattt
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 12:54 PMHave school holidays started already?
HR
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:03 AMSo…. lots of people are willing to line up for the iPhone? Must be pretty good ;) Nice of Samsung to point that out.
moniarde
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 1:57 PMI think that lining up for Apple products is more of a badge in itself, rather than actually getting the product. It’s a case of “I lined up, and won”. Just because you lined up to get a product that I could get just as quickly in 3 or 4 days doesn’t make you cool, or the product cool. It makes you an impatient, consumeristic fool.
Oh, and if you buy something like that before it’s been tested real-world side, don’t whinge about it if it doesn’t work.
Samsung 1, Apple 0.
Peter Rogers
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:07 AMIf your using a phone as just a phone and independent from everything else than any of these smartphones is a good phone. But as an ecosystem a MacBook coupled with an iPhone and Apple TV 2 has no competitors. My wife and I have a MacBook Air and iPhone and we have two Apple TV 2′s and a AirPort Extreme. My one year old has a iPod Touch. As an ecosystem and sharing information between ourselves as well as music and movies nothing comes close. Tried various solutions with Windows 7 combined with Andriod Phones, but could not achieve the same results without constant nightmares. Only set this ecosystem up about 2 months ago and regret no doing the Apple thing early. What outer computer/phone companies do not understand is that it is this very easy to uses ecosystem that people are buying into not for the purpose of having higher spec’s. My point is, that people are buying iPhones because they want the Apple Ecosystem not just because they want an iPhone just for the point of having an iPhone. Also my one year old can select movies using home sharing and AirPlay them to the Apple TV.
Rooboy
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 12:51 PMPete, well said
Steve
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 3:45 PMSee, Rooboy? Constructive criticism and well explained basis for discussion. Not “Shut the fuck up, you fucktard fanboy” as you so eloquently put it in a past Apple thread.
Box Guru
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 1:08 PMGranted for people such as yourself and many others buying into the Apple ecosystem is a valid point.
However, it’s not true to say that the majority of Apple product owners are doing the same. Otherwise you’d see astronomical sales across all their other product lines – and you don’t (though they have been steadily increasing; except Apple TV – that still sucks).
Pretty much everyone I know with an iPhone has only that. A few have old iPods and a couple have iPads. Not exactly an ecosystem there. I don’t believe that many people would fork out so much money for an ecosystem just for “ease of use”.
I’ve got a Windows PC, Samsung TV, MacBook Pro, PS3, and HTC Desire. They’re all hooked up to the network and I don’t have any problems sharing stuff between them.
I can stream media from all my devices to all my other devices, share documents with every device other than the TV, and all have internet access. The only setup required was install of media server software and wireless connections – not that hard.
Unless you’ve got specific use cases that I don’t require I don’t see this being an exclusive feature of the Apple ecosystem.
Peter Rogers
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 1:45 PMBox Guru. I tried many solutions for streaming and sharing but nothing was as seamless and easy to use as the apple stuff. And I disagree that people aren’t buying into the ecosystem. What I have noticed that people that are buying iPhone are buying iPad, MacBooks. At the office I use every OS under the sun but at home it’s Apple, because at home I want to consume and create in the most efficient way possible and only Apple can give that experience out of the box. With Windows, Google, Linux I was always adjusting settings, installing software, drivers, etc. Windows and other can do stuff equally and are not limited like some of the Apple stuff, but no where near as easy to use. After years off playing with all this stuff and waisting lots of time (when I could be creating and consuming) I am now happy to pay money for “easy off use” and I am finding so are many others.
Box Guru
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 5:24 PMIt may be worth mentioning that I only replied to your original post because you were implying your own opinion was general fact when it is not – it is your opinion based on personal experience. Having said that, I’ll respond to some of your points.
I’m not sure just how seamless and easy you want streaming and sharing to be. All I did was install a media server, point it to the files I want shared, the end. Videos, photos, music, all streaming happily across my computer, laptop, and tv. To stream to my phone I downloaded an app and was done. My friend’s Samsung Galaxy doesn’t even need that step and he can stream from his phone to the other devices as well! Don’t know how simpler it can be really.
The only hiccup I ever encounter is incompatible video formats. Usually not an issue with automatic on-the-fly transcoding. Failing that a manual transcode/reencode – something I’d have to do if I was in the Apple ecosystem as well mind you.
I didn’t say that nobody is looking at the Apple ecosystem itself and choosing to buy into it – just that they are few and most certainly not the majority. Getting one or two devices does not make an ecosystem – at least not one of significant size that you could base an argument that you were buying into an ecosystem.
For me, I’ve never heard anyone say “ooh look at that Apple ecosystem, I’m gonna get me in on that.” Most purchases that come by my ear tend to be, “I’m worried this won’t work with my iPhone.” In my experience the main reasons for getting an Apple product are brand, design, and concerns over incompatibility with their existing iPhone or Macbook.
I can’t think of a single thing on an Mac that is easier to consume than on a PC. For creating content, all the best tools for content creation are on PC or both platforms. The ones that are cross platform have near identical interfaces. So, you’re just splitting hairs if you think the Mac experience is significantly better/easier.
Sicarius123
Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 9:52 AMOf course windows combined with android couldn’t come close. It’s not an ecosystem, they’re just two products made by competing companies.
But let me ask you, have you ever tried Windows 7 combined with Windows Phone 7 and Xbox?
Fantastically tied in ecosystem.
will
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:26 AMFull original video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWnunavN4bQ
Graham
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:31 AMGreat ad… and I own an iPhone.
Thorbjørn
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:32 AMI’ve never liked ads that simply try to mock their competition. That goes for Samsung, Coca Cola, Pepsi and whatever other companies do it. That would go for Apple too if they did (or have done?) it.
Alex
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:52 AMMac vs PC adds they did it for years ….
Steve
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 3:31 PMWhat the hell do you think “I’m a Mac” was about? And don’t tell me that didn’t mock consumers. They painted the Mac guy as a trendy, young hipster while the PC user was a shlubby overweight nerd. Those Apple commercials were far more mean than this thing.
dano
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:34 AMDidn’t we already do this with the Olympus m:robe adverts like 5 years ago?
James
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:38 AMit’s still an inescapable fact that apple can garner such rabid support for their product that can cause them to have people lining up like your so called “drones”
……funny really, I’ve never seen any other tech company have that kind of effect on people. When was the last time you saw anyone lining up for the next android phone?………
Never, that’s when. I won’t line up for a phone or an ipad but the mere fact that people do maybe does show that they’re crazy to do it but also that Apple can make that happen. Company’s got skillz!
Que
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:12 AMmanipulating crowds sure is a valuable skill. remember last time when people electing for their precident or priministor or governor? people line up doesn’t mean much else.
iPhone is a good product. Sii is good product too. It is okay to use different phones. if someone doesn’t see it, then they will ended up in that line.
James
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 2:33 PMyou keep telling yourself that while apple rolls around in bathtubs full of money.
The biggest thing they’ve done here is help advertise that Apple’s phone is the one everybody wants. Again this is another Samesung fail, they can’t win in the courts and they certainly can’t win in the marketing war either. Just give up.
Just This Guy ...
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 5:02 PM” apple rolls around in bathtubs full of money. ”
Yep. Money from Appletards like you buddy!
Certainly not MY money.
Steve
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 3:33 PMArgumentum ad populum. Millions of people still buy Bieber albums and Modern Warfare. It’s cheap, mass-produced media aimed at the lowest common denominator (the least discerning demographic) while being reassuringly expensive with the illusion of exclusivity. Don’t use this vague concept as a criterion for quality, because it’s not.
The fact of the matter is, people who line up at the Apple Store (or any product launch) are idiots. It’s 2011, pre-order and have the product on your doorstep the morning of launch. The iPhone 4S launch had a grand total of half a dozen people lining outside the Sydney Apple store, and even they were mostly teens who used it to spruik their twitter page.
Commander Sheppard
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:22 AMthis HELPS apple, more than it Helps Samsung.. good fail!
Just This Guy ...
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 4:48 PMI smell an apple fanboi
Smells like teen failure
Commander Shepard
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 1:52 AMDamn and s/he also uses Comander Shepard.
well thats done with.
Please
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:41 AMThey are just phones. Saying that, Apple will look for another parts supplier.
GJC
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 11:54 AMLove it, clever and funny. Also true