Samsung couldn’t let the launch of the iPhone X just idly pass them by. No, instead of ignoring Apple’s £1,000 iPhone or, heaven forbid, congratulating them for finally catching up to Samsung’s own innovations, Samsung went for the jugular.
In a new ad campaign entitled “Growing Up” Samsung charts the journey of a long-time Apple iPhone user finally seeing sense and switching to Samsung.
Set over the course of ten years, Samsung’s ad starts with the original iPhone and moves through highlighting how it’s always been behind the times once other smartphones came into play. For years it’s offered paltry storage, poor battery, lacked stylus support out of stubbornness, had woefully small screens and required dongles to work. Heck, it’s even lacked water resistivity unlike, you know, Samsung’s phones that definitely haven’t exploded…
To add further insult to injury, the woman the video’s protagonist loves has been a long-time Samsung Galaxy user and hasn’t been happier.
Finally, on the launch of the iPhone X, he sees the light. Looking at a waiting Apple fanboy queuing up for his overpriced phone – complete with an awful haircut to mirror the iPhone X’s notch – he walks on by. He’s seen sense; buying the exact same phone as his friend that costs just a little bit less for a whole lot more.
As you can imagine, Apple hasn’t passed comment at Samsung’s video, but the South Korean company has a history of bashing Apple. It’s used past keynote presentations to show how lacking Apple’s camera is compared to its own, along with how poor battery life is too. They’ve actively poked fun at the US company before, even during ongoing lawsuits between the two of them.
Amusingly, even if this ad campaign doesn’t manage to stop people rushing out to buy the iPhone X, Samsung still wins out. The display manufacturing arm of Samsung provides every iPhone X display because nobody else in the world can make them. On every sale of the iPhone X, Samsung makes money.
Even if Samsung’s ad throws unnecessary shade on Apple, it is an amusing campaign nonetheless.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=R59TevgzN3k
The iPhone X has, generally, received rather positive reviews, although many reviewers have decided to write their reviews like they’re talking about some sort of philosophical lifestyle change, instead of – you know – a smartphone.
For instance, Mashable calls the notch a “peninsula of darkness”, while Forbes claims that apps move around it “like spilt paint gently filling in the gaps between floorboards”. My favourite, however, is being told that it’s a “roadmap for future iPhones” that also has “no path”. Draw your own conclusions, folks.
Maybe there is something to the sentiment behind Samsung’s new ad.
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