As a Sprint Samsung Galaxy owner myself, I was quite amused at this latest Samsung commercial for the Galaxy S II poking fun and mocking the Apple iPhone “fan boy” base. Surprisingly, one of the two Galaxy S II owners in the commercial is a pretty good looking Asian American guy. Nice to know that we can be hipsters too.
Samsung executives explain their reasoning behind this commercial:
“We’re not targeting fanboys. We’re not going to convert them. We’re using them as a foil to target current Android users upgrading to a new phone and people entering the smartphone market for the first time. … Everyone knows about the lines for the iPhone launches. We want to use that as a device to show that the next big thing is already here. … It’s not so much as making fun as Apple culture. It’s people not thinking rationally on this. They’re allowing a brand to define who they are. That’s not exclusive to Apple, either.”
My favorite lines from the commercial are:
- “I could never get a Samsung. I’m creative.” Friend: “Dude, you’re a barista.”
- “If it looks the same [iPhone 4S vs. iPhone 4], how will people know I’ve upgraded.”
This commercial kind of reminds me of the user generated Evo vs. iPhone video that went viral. Of course, Apple is a master at not only product design, but marketing and playing to our emotions. Personally, I’ve stuck with Android due to the fact that I’ve been on Sprint since moving to the Bay Area in 1999 and I’ve always heard AT&T sucks so bad and the iPhone was exclusive to them for so long.