[Armored]

No but I think the writer is.

Amen to that. What a poorly written article. I see nothing related to apple about this at all. Can no smartphone manufacturer make any adds anymore without someone claiming they have sights trained in on Apple?

[oahz]

...what?

[Phillip Swanson]

I apologize to those who read the article when it was posted not even half finished. The laptop I was working on had a system ram failure in the middle of writing and in the process the article was submitted. I finished it on my desktop as soon as I was able to.

As for smartphone manufacturers having their sights "trained" (set?) on Apple, what other company would they have their eyes set on? You never hear of Samsung bashing Motorola or HTC going after LG. Android may be the largest platform, but that platform is divided up between a number of manufacturers. Apple is the largest single phone producer in the world, makes the most money, and the most symbolic in the minds of the people when asked to think about Smartphones.

That said, go watch a handful of old Motorola Droid, Galaxy S, Xoom and other manufacturer commercials and tell me this latest commercial hasn't been influenced by the marketing direction and success of Apple.

Does anybody remember the first Droid commercial? I can't imagine anyone besides a teenage or young male that would want to buy that phone after watching it. It definitely wasn't targets for females or middle ages individuals. Even the "DROOIIDDD" tagline is likely to frighten teenage and college girls.

[feidhlim1986]

Apple should include Samsung's latest Galaxy S ll advertisement in their next patent infringement suit.

But it's not super pretentious?Swanson...the MMi Apple super fanboy.

[reanimationxp]

Jesus guys you're eating him alive, but I do agree that it hints at Apple. You really didn't need to go into describing every detail of the video though.. this whole article could have had the same effect by saying: "Seem familiar?"

[RICO_]

This seems more like an attempt to bash Samsung rather than legitimately explain how this links to Apple news.

[Phillip Swanson]

Ha, they're not eating me alive, it's just the internets. But, the patent suit comment was made in jest, more of stab at how ridiculous Apple's patent litigation has gotten. Which I've been extremely critical of. Just because Apple is at the top of the smartphone mountain right now hardly means they'll stay there forever. Apple has a ton of faults non worse than the factories and facilities they employ in their supply chain. Foxconn and others are hardly ideal business partners, but Apple makes the decision to contract their services despite the workplace horror stories we've all heard. The inconsistency of Apple's App Store approval policies is infuriating, and their attempts to hog-tie and beat the publishing industry to death might be downright despicable. But, this is the company who makes the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. They remain the epitome of cool, a status symbol, and in the process make a pretty functional an innovative product. While this doesn't grant them immunity from the previously mentioned criticisms, it sure as heck sets up a Berlin Wall like PR shield around everything that they do.

[jamesgunaca]

As a marketer who works at an agency and deals with clients regularly, I can tell you exactly how this went down.Samsung asked for this ad. They asked for something to pull the heart strings of the viewer. The creative agency probably gave a 1 minute spot that didn't have that spec information at the end, but then someone in product marketing at Samsung said "you have to say something about the screen! and how fast it is!" so the creative team folded under client pressure and we're left with an ad that is 80% good and 20% typical garbage.This is just my assumption based on experience working in the business.

[Madman604x]

the SG2 shown has a different rear camera than the one I had. weird.

[Phillip Swanson]

As a marketer who works at an agency and deals with clients regularly, I can tell you exactly how this went down.Samsung asked for this ad. They asked for something to pull the heart strings of the viewer. The creative agency probably gave a 1 minute spot that didn't have that spec information at the end, but then someone in product marketing at Samsung said "you have to say something about the screen! and how fast it is!" so the creative team folded under client pressure and we're left with an ad that is 80% good and 20% typical garbage.This is just my assumption based on experience working in the business.

James,

I know exactly how you feel. I do a ton of video and promotional work as well as my freelance writing. It's incredibly infuriating when a client tells you "I want something creative and new," and then you present them with a finished product and they start with "well shouldn't we say something about this? And I'm not sure the consumer will get it." Ultimately though it is there money, they are hiring you, and if they insist on including this information you do what you have to do to get paid.

[Jahooba]

Haha, Phillip. I hear ya. I like they way you're thinking And just so you kiddies understand what's going on here, Phillip's reaction is to the often infuriating art of marketing. Marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry and we're swimming in it everywhere we go, but no one talks about it and even fewer understand it. Marketing is meant to be invisible - it's suppose to pull your psychological strings without you knowing it. Marketing is knowing what you want to hear, finding the best way to say it, and then making you believe that it was your idea all along.

Even knowing all this, I admit that I didn't make the Apple link, but now that Phillip mentioned it is is very apparent: Samsung is #2. Notice how in the commercial they say, "No one holds up a foam finger with the #3 on it." I thought to myself, what happened to two?! Why would anyone want to hold up a #2 sign either? Now it makes sense. They skipped number 2 because that's them. Subtle like a fox, right? Marketing.

I saw the commercial yesterday by chance and it bothered me. It was inspirational and philosophical and had absolutely nothing to do with cell phones. "You can be inspired by things you find on the internet - you can be a better person... so buy Samsung." It was so pretentious it was painful to watch. It was so disjointed in its message - as if Samsung was going out of its way to overstate the importance of a cell phone. It was just so... unsubtle. Don't get me wrong, I like Samsung. They not only design their own products, but manufacture them as well. Their products are black, slick, affordable (for the most part), and I even like their blocky SAMSUNG text looking back at me from my high-definition monitor as I type this.

I'm mearly commenting on the commercial itself. I do not feel threatened by Samsung because I'm an Apple fan AND a Samsung fan. Equally. Marketing is a funny thing, though (as are most things deeply routed in psycholocal manipulation). I'm not convinced that marketing truly works outside of the hip-hop and alcohol industry when it comes to cultural influence. I think Apple's commercials kinda suck, too. That whole Mac vs. PC thing made me want to puke. They essentially used class warfare to sell their product - to create a division between the haves and have-nots. That's manipulative and cruel, and it's horrible marketing. Microsoft then countered with a series of sobering commercials that centered on money and productivity. Tangable things! Apple went the other way and focused on the intangible, such as being 'cool', and how 'magical' their devices are.

Maybe Samsung's marketing will work on people - the gullible, for sure. I do know that marketing doesn't work on me, especially the marketing that focuses on the intagible, like being 'inspired', or 'hope and change'. These things (inspiration, hope, change) mean something different to everyone, so when marketers attach these concepts to a person or product, they're counting on you to come up with your own reasons to like their product - you're infusing that something/ someone with meaning in your mind. This is essentially saying to the public, "It doesn't matter how good our product is, you just have to entrust your money to us," and, "We don't have to sell you on a specific product, as long as you sell yourself on it (with our help) and we get your money, then we still won." The end justifies the means. Steve Jobs, like all visionaries, doesn't care what he has to do to get your money or support. That's probably a little overly-harsh of me, but Apple is up to their necks in questionable, unethical and dubious practices. Like all visionaries, he knows what he wants, and everything else is just an unfocused mass of barriers he needs to either ignore or crush. Yeah, I think most visionaries are psychopaths.

Apple and Samsung want you to unfocus your eyes, realize their vision of a better future, and empty your wallet into their products - based solely on a promise from them of a brigher future. "Derr, Ookay," say the mindless drones. Marketing, at its worst, is a trick to get you to react on feeling, not on substance.

This is a complex subject and I could go on all day about reality vs. perception.

[PathKiller29]

^^^ i think duracell does some pretty messed up commercials too..as if they save the world...i just watch the funny ones, then laugh, still not a reason to buy any product.

[[email protected]]

reading this article made me feel like I was in high school english class again; where the teacher would pull up the video and break down every little detail for us, and we would still get nothing from it in the end.

[GmAz]

[alien mars18]

I'm sorry Phillip, but I think you should just stop writing articles. Even the regular Apple fanboys are calling you an extremist.

[romeo_herman]

I'm getting samsung, if iPhone5 non jailbreakable.

[onelow99]

That wasn't Apple-esque at all.....not in the least.....losers

[christoforo]

Everything these days is a copy off of apple apparently.

[kamalsutra]

That's why always make no.2 your choice.
They try harder.

[bigliquid530]

I actually like the commercial

I see nothing wrong with them talking about screen ect...