But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your... timepiece?
December 22, 2013 10:10 AM Subscribe
It's the holiday season! Time to relax in front of the TV and shop for some new gear. Sit back and enjoy some of Samsung Mobile's horrifically tone-deaf commercials from 2013. The latest How to pick up women with Samsung Galaxy Gear arguably being the most cringeworthy.
Then there's Samsung doesn't understand Lorde's 'Royals;' uses it to advertise the Galaxy Note 3 to street urchins. Baffled housewife, studious Asian gamer and corporate ladder-climber discover what an SSD is. Samsung Evolution Kits for burpy, farty boyfriends. 10-year old boy in a Bentley (driven by a butler named "Benson") unpacks a Galaxy S4. And here's some coverage of Samsung's "shockingly sexist" Galaxy S4 launch event.
So are the ads working? 2012 was a glorious year for Samsung Mobile, rising from relative consumer-level obscurity only to find itself with great success taking Apple fanboys head on, kicking Blackberry while it was down and even staging defamatory internet campaigns against HTC.
In 2013, Samsung is reportedly spending $14 billion on advertising - that's more than Iceland's total GDP, and the biggest (as a percentage of its total revenue) advertising budget of any company ever. Speaking of Iceland, bonus video: here's the slightly dense "Get a Phone That Understands You" Galaxy S4 commercial for Iceland that involves a guy trying to figure out how to use - wait for it - an apple.
Then there's Samsung doesn't understand Lorde's 'Royals;' uses it to advertise the Galaxy Note 3 to street urchins. Baffled housewife, studious Asian gamer and corporate ladder-climber discover what an SSD is. Samsung Evolution Kits for burpy, farty boyfriends. 10-year old boy in a Bentley (driven by a butler named "Benson") unpacks a Galaxy S4. And here's some coverage of Samsung's "shockingly sexist" Galaxy S4 launch event.
So are the ads working? 2012 was a glorious year for Samsung Mobile, rising from relative consumer-level obscurity only to find itself with great success taking Apple fanboys head on, kicking Blackberry while it was down and even staging defamatory internet campaigns against HTC.
In 2013, Samsung is reportedly spending $14 billion on advertising - that's more than Iceland's total GDP, and the biggest (as a percentage of its total revenue) advertising budget of any company ever. Speaking of Iceland, bonus video: here's the slightly dense "Get a Phone That Understands You" Galaxy S4 commercial for Iceland that involves a guy trying to figure out how to use - wait for it - an apple.
How much has Samsung paid in taxes this year?
posted by Gin and Comics at 10:19 AM on December 22, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Gin and Comics at 10:19 AM on December 22, 2013 [5 favorites]
In the Jobs biography, one of the pull quotes about Microsoft was how they had no "Taste" as a company.
Somehow I think Samsung's taken that as a challenge.
posted by DigDoug at 10:30 AM on December 22, 2013 [7 favorites]
Somehow I think Samsung's taken that as a challenge.
posted by DigDoug at 10:30 AM on December 22, 2013 [7 favorites]
I have a lot of Samsung devices for various mobile development projects. I have yet to use one that really stuck with me. The HTC and Nexus are much better andriod phones. The Toq and Pebble are better smartwatches.
posted by humanfont at 10:36 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by humanfont at 10:36 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
The S4 launch (especially the tipsy woman with the glass of wine enjoying the benefits of camera vibration reduction when secretly filming her 'hunky' gardener) was the point at which I vowed I'd never buy a product from these morons, ever.
I actually worked freelance as a writer several years ago at an ad agency where the big clients were Microsoft, Motorola and Samsung, and the accepted practice among copywriters was that you just went for the cheesiest, shittiest, most appalling parody of a corporate bollocks ad you could ever imagine - and the client (always 12 men in suits) would totally love it right off the bat.
posted by colie at 10:39 AM on December 22, 2013 [29 favorites]
I actually worked freelance as a writer several years ago at an ad agency where the big clients were Microsoft, Motorola and Samsung, and the accepted practice among copywriters was that you just went for the cheesiest, shittiest, most appalling parody of a corporate bollocks ad you could ever imagine - and the client (always 12 men in suits) would totally love it right off the bat.
posted by colie at 10:39 AM on December 22, 2013 [29 favorites]
For whatever reason the one (mis)using "Royals" totally creeped me out.
posted by aclevername at 10:47 AM on December 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by aclevername at 10:47 AM on December 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
the latest How to pick up women with Samsung Galaxy Gear arguably being the most cringeworthy.
No, I think it just shows that the samsung watch is the modern equivalent of Mr.Microphone:
Hey good lookin', we'll be back to pick you up later!
posted by 445supermag at 10:57 AM on December 22, 2013 [12 favorites]
No, I think it just shows that the samsung watch is the modern equivalent of Mr.Microphone:
Hey good lookin', we'll be back to pick you up later!
posted by 445supermag at 10:57 AM on December 22, 2013 [12 favorites]
I have a lot of Samsung devices for various mobile development projects. I have yet to use one that really stuck with me. The HTC and Nexus are much better andriod phones.
We tend not to watch commercials except the relatively few you get stuck with with online videos or before movies. (There were SO MANY Microsoft/Lumia commercials before the Hobbit which basically gave the impression their "phone" is mostly a camera, but a good camera.)
My wife chose a Samsung for her phone because there was a dearth of Android phones on T-Mobile at the time that had physical keyboards. She liked it enough to go for a Samsung tablet as well.
I have an older HTC phone that I'd dearly love to drop down a well and replace, and not with another HTC. A Nexus probably though.
posted by Foosnark at 11:01 AM on December 22, 2013
We tend not to watch commercials except the relatively few you get stuck with with online videos or before movies. (There were SO MANY Microsoft/Lumia commercials before the Hobbit which basically gave the impression their "phone" is mostly a camera, but a good camera.)
My wife chose a Samsung for her phone because there was a dearth of Android phones on T-Mobile at the time that had physical keyboards. She liked it enough to go for a Samsung tablet as well.
I have an older HTC phone that I'd dearly love to drop down a well and replace, and not with another HTC. A Nexus probably though.
posted by Foosnark at 11:01 AM on December 22, 2013
Hal_c_on - Lourdes doesn't get decide to who uses her song. Her label does.
posted by sio42 at 10:53 AM on December 22 [+] [!]
I bet her mom has pretty strong opinions on the topic, like most things.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 11:02 AM on December 22, 2013
posted by sio42 at 10:53 AM on December 22 [+] [!]
I bet her mom has pretty strong opinions on the topic, like most things.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 11:02 AM on December 22, 2013
I guess they cut the scene where he gets PUA lines off of his Gear. So yuck. Much gross.
posted by The Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas at 11:04 AM on December 22, 2013
posted by The Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas at 11:04 AM on December 22, 2013
I can wear my Casio F-91W in the bath.
posted by popcassady at 11:04 AM on December 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by popcassady at 11:04 AM on December 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
I think that being fabulously tone-deaf and classist would work for Samsung if they actually were a luxury, aspirational brand. But they're not; they still sell Samsung-branded DVD players.
The Samsung consortium should take a play from Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Porsche SE. Keep the Samsung brand for entry-level goods, and acquire two more brands and position them as low-end and high-end luxury.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:06 AM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Samsung consortium should take a play from Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Porsche SE. Keep the Samsung brand for entry-level goods, and acquire two more brands and position them as low-end and high-end luxury.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:06 AM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Lourdes is Madonna's daughter.
Lorde, aka Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor, wrote and recorded "Royals."
posted by Auden at 11:09 AM on December 22, 2013 [10 favorites]
Lorde, aka Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor, wrote and recorded "Royals."
posted by Auden at 11:09 AM on December 22, 2013 [10 favorites]
Lourdes doesn't get decide to who uses her song. Her label does.
Actually the label holds the rights to the performance recorded for them but Lorde, assuming she is the songwriter, controls the publishing and she or her representatives can very much decide how it is or is not used.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:11 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Actually the label holds the rights to the performance recorded for them but Lorde, assuming she is the songwriter, controls the publishing and she or her representatives can very much decide how it is or is not used.
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:11 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
In the Jobs biography, one of the pull quotes about Microsoft was how they had no "Taste" as a company.
Not sure how this is relevant here, but I never would have doubted for a second that Steve Jobs found Bill Gates' tireless dedication to aiding the world's poor "tasteless." Let them eat rounded corners!
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:13 AM on December 22, 2013 [10 favorites]
Not sure how this is relevant here, but I never would have doubted for a second that Steve Jobs found Bill Gates' tireless dedication to aiding the world's poor "tasteless." Let them eat rounded corners!
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:13 AM on December 22, 2013 [10 favorites]
From the pbs documentary "Revenge of the nerds": Steve Jobs says Microsoft has no taste
posted by 445supermag at 11:32 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by 445supermag at 11:32 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
The actor who played the engineer character on the ad for the 840EVO SSD wrote in to explain that they talk in such slow and stilted ways because the promo videos are designed to be translated into or subtitled with Korean and watched mostly by Koreans who think English speakers exaggerate expressivity. So that was interesting.
posted by spitbull at 11:35 AM on December 22, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by spitbull at 11:35 AM on December 22, 2013 [6 favorites]
Also Molly Woods in the CNet piece on weird over the top sexism at the S4 launch -- for the win: "Shut up and make me a phone."
posted by spitbull at 11:47 AM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by spitbull at 11:47 AM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
They're really keeping up with their track record of telling the users of the competing product line that they're idiots, because that always works so well at showing off how great you are. People love to be told they're stupid, right?
posted by sonascope at 11:51 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by sonascope at 11:51 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Samsung doesn't understand Lorde's 'Royals;' uses it to advertise the Galaxy Note 3 to street urchins.
I thought the commercial was confusing, too, but I kind of enjoyed the "It's a Hard Knock Life" retelling of that song.
posted by sweetkid at 11:53 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
I thought the commercial was confusing, too, but I kind of enjoyed the "It's a Hard Knock Life" retelling of that song.
posted by sweetkid at 11:53 AM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
These ads are probable pretty effective in a lot of markets. Just not the MeFi one.
posted by umberto at 12:03 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by umberto at 12:03 PM on December 22, 2013
Something really, really terrible happens to Samsung's Galaxy Gear "Jack" in the future, after the commerical ends. I can sense it. Something completely horrific and ghastly.
posted by Auden at 12:07 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Auden at 12:07 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Does anyone (publicly) track the gender breakdown of the cellphone market in the US or internationally?
posted by spitbull at 12:09 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by spitbull at 12:09 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Meanwhile, some ads shown on Korean TV: Samsung Galaxy Round (featuring Glen Check's Vivid), idol band CN Blue's series of Galaxy Note ads (and a music video, too). The domestic ads tend to be big on the idol groups and the hot actor / actress of the moment.
posted by needled at 12:10 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by needled at 12:10 PM on December 22, 2013
I heard the next Samsung smartdevice is a bluetooth coffeemaker. The commercial is just going to be a supercut of 50s dudes telling their wives that their coffee is terrible.
posted by en forme de poire at 12:15 PM on December 22, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by en forme de poire at 12:15 PM on December 22, 2013 [6 favorites]
One listen to the ringtones on a samsung galaxy tells you all you need to know about the company's lack of cool.
posted by fshgrl at 12:21 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fshgrl at 12:21 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Hey I just got an S4 mini, because I finally managed to break my HTC. Didn't think too much about it - it was the Android smartphone they had in the store, and being without a phone was a major problem for work.
A nice phone overall - my only complaint is that the battery life is somewhat weak. But then again I got the thing to use, I couldn't give two bits about cool.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:26 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
A nice phone overall - my only complaint is that the battery life is somewhat weak. But then again I got the thing to use, I couldn't give two bits about cool.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:26 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Is Lorde immune to greed? She's on a pedestal above every pop band/artist ever?
posted by Brocktoon at 12:27 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by Brocktoon at 12:27 PM on December 22, 2013
I'm actually posting from a Samsung because there are not a lot of "physical keyboard" phones out there and I still am not a big fan of typing on glass. Sigh. Too bad they're so douchey; I think their products are actually quite well made (this guy survived a trip to the toilet with no lasting damage, for instance).
posted by en forme de poire at 12:32 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by en forme de poire at 12:32 PM on December 22, 2013
(Please nobody tell me anything bad about LG or HTC.)
posted by en forme de poire at 12:33 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by en forme de poire at 12:33 PM on December 22, 2013
The brouhaha over "Royals" is because (a) the lyrics of the song decry materialism, so using the song in a commercial is especially ironic; and (b) Lorde has been hyped and promoted as an outsider to the star system (with the subtext being that she therefore has more integrity than ye olde manufactured star-of-the-week).
posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:35 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:35 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Lorde has been hyped and promoted as an outsider to the star system
I don't think you're wrong, but dear lord what this says about modern media.
posted by Sequence at 12:39 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
I don't think you're wrong, but dear lord what this says about modern media.
posted by Sequence at 12:39 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm just happy when a smart phone commercial actually shows the device doing something smart phones do. I'm looking at you, Motorola, with your H.R. Geiger/Alien-esque futuristic wankfest.
posted by sbutler at 12:39 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by sbutler at 12:39 PM on December 22, 2013
I read somewhere that Lorde has had a recording contract since she was 12 or something like that -- basically a quarter of her lifetime. Who's buying that she's an outsider?
posted by axiom at 12:41 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by axiom at 12:41 PM on December 22, 2013
The brouhaha over "Royals" is because (a) the lyrics of the song decry materialism
That's not what I thought the song was about the first 20 times I heard it, though I've seen everyone including Lorde describe it this way.
This is something I wrote in an earlier thread on what I thought it was about.
posted by sweetkid at 12:45 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
That's not what I thought the song was about the first 20 times I heard it, though I've seen everyone including Lorde describe it this way.
This is something I wrote in an earlier thread on what I thought it was about.
posted by sweetkid at 12:45 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I'm not saying that I take either of those points very seriously.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:49 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:49 PM on December 22, 2013
Samsung seem to have pretty much cornered the budget smartphone market in the UK. Everyone I know seems to have one. Mind you, I'm part of a weird demographic - I don't think I know anyone who has an iPhone.
posted by pipeski at 12:52 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by pipeski at 12:52 PM on December 22, 2013
Lorde has been hyped and promoted as an outsider to the star system (with the subtext being that she therefore has more integrity than ye olde manufactured star-of-the-week).
In a transparently manufactured way; I mean, they named her album “Pure Heroine”, for Cthulhu's sake!
posted by acb at 12:56 PM on December 22, 2013
In a transparently manufactured way; I mean, they named her album “Pure Heroine”, for Cthulhu's sake!
posted by acb at 12:56 PM on December 22, 2013
That Icelandic ad is awesome. More of that in American advertising, please.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:58 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:58 PM on December 22, 2013
Thanks for this post. Now I'm understanding the reasoning behind their latest product launch a little more.
posted by Catblack at 1:13 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by Catblack at 1:13 PM on December 22, 2013
you know what bothers me about that samsung galaxy gear ad? it starts off with them riding up a chairlift and the oldphone guy is holding his skis. you don't take your skis off when you ride a chairlift.
posted by lester at 1:34 PM on December 22, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by lester at 1:34 PM on December 22, 2013 [10 favorites]
These advertisements have disgusted me more than any other news I've seen over the past week. I uploaded all of my Lorde music to my Samsung smartphone and smashed it with a ball-peen hammer in protest against such horrendous advertising.
posted by zscore at 1:36 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by zscore at 1:36 PM on December 22, 2013
Guess how much Samsung's advertising budget is. Just guess.
"Why are Samsung’s smartphones so dominant in the market when companies such as HTC, Nokia and LG have all released smartphones in the last year that are just as good if not better? A big reason is Samsung’s enormous marketing budget that drills images of Galaxy smartphones into consumers’ heads while crowding out its rivals’ devices. According to Reuters, Samsung’s marketing Death Star has spent an estimated $14 billion in 2013, an amount that’s greater than the entire gross domestic product of Iceland. If Reuters‘ estimate is right, it means that Samsung has more than tripled the roughly $4 billion it spent on marketing in 2012 and that it has spent more than quadruple what Microsoft and Apple together spent on marketing last year.
posted by four panels at 1:46 PM on December 22, 2013
"Why are Samsung’s smartphones so dominant in the market when companies such as HTC, Nokia and LG have all released smartphones in the last year that are just as good if not better? A big reason is Samsung’s enormous marketing budget that drills images of Galaxy smartphones into consumers’ heads while crowding out its rivals’ devices. According to Reuters, Samsung’s marketing Death Star has spent an estimated $14 billion in 2013, an amount that’s greater than the entire gross domestic product of Iceland. If Reuters‘ estimate is right, it means that Samsung has more than tripled the roughly $4 billion it spent on marketing in 2012 and that it has spent more than quadruple what Microsoft and Apple together spent on marketing last year.
posted by four panels at 1:46 PM on December 22, 2013
Well, I got an S4. Upgraded from the Nexus S. Put Slimbean on the Nexus, Galaxy is stock, nothing much to say about any of them, really. Phones is phones.
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:49 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:49 PM on December 22, 2013
Guess how much Samsung's advertising budget is.
Or maybe RTFFPP?
posted by biffa at 1:56 PM on December 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
Or maybe RTFFPP?
posted by biffa at 1:56 PM on December 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
Maybe. But I think he probably just gives Jack a good glassing.
posted by Auden at 2:11 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by Auden at 2:11 PM on December 22, 2013
I don't have a Samsung phone, but I quite enjoy the happy little song that plays when my Samsung clothes washer has finished a load.
posted by candyland at 2:17 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by candyland at 2:17 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yowza. I just checked how many YouTube channels Samsung had. Here's just a few:
Samsung Tomorrow
Samsung Mobile
Samsung GALAXY
Samsung Mobile USA
Samsung Televisions
samsungimaging
SamsungNotebook
SamsungHomeAppliance
Samsung Apps
SamsungMobileKorea
SamsungMonitorGlobal
SamsungUSATube
posted by needled at 2:20 PM on December 22, 2013
Samsung Tomorrow
Samsung Mobile
Samsung GALAXY
Samsung Mobile USA
Samsung Televisions
samsungimaging
SamsungNotebook
SamsungHomeAppliance
Samsung Apps
SamsungMobileKorea
SamsungMonitorGlobal
SamsungUSATube
posted by needled at 2:20 PM on December 22, 2013
I dunno. I've had the Samsung S3 for awhile now, and have not had any major complaints. The battery life can suck at times, but for a work phone it is great for pulling up PDF drawings.
I agree their advertising is not great, but the phone is solid.
posted by Benway at 2:22 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
I agree their advertising is not great, but the phone is solid.
posted by Benway at 2:22 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
The kid was lispy, tow-headed, and tap-dancing (the little girl did ballet, of course). Will Chase, the emcee-as-actor, was orange and desperate for fame; his in-skit "agent" was clueless, abrasive, self-absorbed and vaguely Jewish. The backpacking guys were horny, the Chinese actor in his 60s was an "old guy." So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the women would also be a little, let's say, underdeveloped, as characters.
Wow. Got to hand it to Samsung for doing something original for a change, I guess, because no one will ever catch Apple doing that shit. At least not while Tim Cook is in charge.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:26 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Wow. Got to hand it to Samsung for doing something original for a change, I guess, because no one will ever catch Apple doing that shit. At least not while Tim Cook is in charge.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:26 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
also, if he just tried to get of the chairlift without his skis he would take a major thumping, wouldn't he? god chairlifts are terrifying.
posted by angrycat at 2:32 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by angrycat at 2:32 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
thoughts while reading the thread - these ads are awful. i like my note 2 a lot (even though i noticed when shopping for it that the ads were weirdly girl focused even though it has great performance). i'm not sure why this thread turned into bash lorde for a bit there.
posted by nadawi at 2:33 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by nadawi at 2:33 PM on December 22, 2013
I was unaware of any advertising campaign by Samsung before I bought my S4, and I'm still pretty happy with it. I guess I'd be kind of pissed if I graded my phone by the quality of its marketing, though, because now it's pretty much useless as a status symbol to show everyone how socially conscious and concerned about equality I am in my choice of $600 electronic toy.
posted by indubitable at 2:41 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by indubitable at 2:41 PM on December 22, 2013
I have an HTC One X. Nice phone, but a recent update by HTC causes the battery to overheat. I can't imagine Apple doing something like that.
As a company HTC is on it's last legs, too, although for some reason BlackBerry gets all the attention (companies are similar size with the same rate of rapid implosion).
posted by KokuRyu at 2:57 PM on December 22, 2013
As a company HTC is on it's last legs, too, although for some reason BlackBerry gets all the attention (companies are similar size with the same rate of rapid implosion).
posted by KokuRyu at 2:57 PM on December 22, 2013
I think Blackberry is way more famous than HTC is why it's gotten so much more attention. Plus its having been assigned to everyone in the mid-late 00s as their work phone.
posted by sweetkid at 3:04 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by sweetkid at 3:04 PM on December 22, 2013
Blackberry was ascendant and now it's crashing. HTC has always been an also-ran, phones-wise. It's not so much crashing as gradually stalling out after traveling the last few years at five miles per hour.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 3:49 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 3:49 PM on December 22, 2013
also, if he just tried to get of the chairlift without his skis he would take a major thumping, wouldn't he? god chairlifts are terrifying.
Nah, he'd just have to do that ski boot stutter step run.
Also, aim for the direction the chair isn't turning, I can't count the number of people I saw try to beat the ski-lift around a circle when I worked at a resort.
And finally, and this is the most important tip, GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!
Seriously, don't stop in the middle of the ramp like a deer in the headlights. Ski, scamper, crawl, but get off the ramp.
Don't make me hit the red button and stop the lift!
posted by madajb at 3:51 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Nah, he'd just have to do that ski boot stutter step run.
Also, aim for the direction the chair isn't turning, I can't count the number of people I saw try to beat the ski-lift around a circle when I worked at a resort.
And finally, and this is the most important tip, GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!
Seriously, don't stop in the middle of the ramp like a deer in the headlights. Ski, scamper, crawl, but get off the ramp.
Don't make me hit the red button and stop the lift!
posted by madajb at 3:51 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Just look up the Samsung SGR-A1, sorry, I don't know how to copy paste a link on this device.
The SGR-A1 can tell friend from from foe by recognizing a voice password. It is the user's responsibility to load it with non lethal ammo when in fully automatic mode, and to have a human authorize kills when using lethal ammo.
Now go look at Samsung's developer forums for third party app developers. Download the SDK and look at the source of some of their libraries. Go see the bug reports. Reach your own conclusions based on the quality of their published source code.
Samsung is a scary company, so sad, because they make pretty sweet hardware.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 4:18 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
The SGR-A1 can tell friend from from foe by recognizing a voice password. It is the user's responsibility to load it with non lethal ammo when in fully automatic mode, and to have a human authorize kills when using lethal ammo.
Now go look at Samsung's developer forums for third party app developers. Download the SDK and look at the source of some of their libraries. Go see the bug reports. Reach your own conclusions based on the quality of their published source code.
Samsung is a scary company, so sad, because they make pretty sweet hardware.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 4:18 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
It would be funny if the song was sung by Kate and Wills-no! Camilla and Charles! Or if Prince George only stopped crying when his parents sing it to him.
posted by discopolo at 5:46 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by discopolo at 5:46 PM on December 22, 2013
If Apple released these ads this thread would be filled with praise for how breathlessly edgy and ironic they are. Peoples' passions about products seem out of proportion to the actual differences. Sometimes I suspect bigotry found technology as a thinly veiled and socially acceptable outlet.
posted by astrobiophysican at 6:11 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by astrobiophysican at 6:11 PM on December 22, 2013
Peoples' passions about products seem out of proportion to the actual differences. Sometimes I suspect bigotry found technology as a thinly veiled and socially acceptable outlet.
Bigots?
posted by sweetkid at 6:14 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Bigots?
posted by sweetkid at 6:14 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Bigotry as a universal classifier cutting perpendicular to associated 'isms.' hate Samsung = nationism or racism like hating a soda stream is antisemitism. Swap the people who own or make a product in what people say and there you have it. Anyways it makes fanrants more high octane and even potentially interesting to read them with that lense.
posted by astrobiophysican at 7:26 PM on December 22, 2013
posted by astrobiophysican at 7:26 PM on December 22, 2013
I...don't think that's accurate. It wouldn't explain Microsoft hate.
posted by sweetkid at 7:31 PM on December 22, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by sweetkid at 7:31 PM on December 22, 2013 [4 favorites]
If "Royals" actually had some kind of profound message by the artist, then Samsung would not have the rights to use it in their advertisement.
If "Lust For Life" actually had some kind of profound message by the artist, then Carnival Cruises would not have the rights to use it in their advertisement.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:50 PM on December 22, 2013 [7 favorites]
If "Lust For Life" actually had some kind of profound message by the artist, then Carnival Cruises would not have the rights to use it in their advertisement.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:50 PM on December 22, 2013 [7 favorites]
If "Royals" actually had some kind of profound message by the artist, then Samsung would not have the rights to use it in their advertisement.
If "Lust For Life" actually had some kind of profound message by the artist, then Carnival Cruises would not have the rights to use it in their advertisement.
I don't know what ad it was, but I heard Bowie's Changes for YEARS (early 90s?) in some commercial before I knew much about music or the song.
posted by sweetkid at 8:52 PM on December 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
I thought the Lorde/urchins ad was well done -- but it made me desperate for an "Oliver!" remake, not a Samsung.
I think the major misstep was that they wanted us to identify with the reckless douche who sees kids playing in an abandoned building and then orders the building's collapse (I thought the ad had gone to a really dark place for a few seconds there). Though, on a happier note, what with the construction projects and the adults apparently absent because they're at work, it looks like the economy is really picking up in that neighborhood. I think it would have worked better if they'd gone for "dystopian future" a la Blade Runner and it was the kids somehow using Samsung products to make the field themselves. Though for all I know, maybe that's how the idea started out, but the execs decided they wanted to go for an older, stodgier market and told them to insert the developer.
Anyway, I had a Samsung Galaxy S for a couple years and loved it. It gradually died completely, starting with the battery. But before that, it got dropped on the pavement so many times without cracking, and once I had it in my waitressing apron and dropped a whole tray full of waters on it but got it back to life within a day by putting it in a bag of rice. I wanted to get the updated version when I had to get a new phone, but iPhone had the better deal, so what can ya do? Trying to get the best deal is how I got the Samsung Galaxy S in the first place, so I guess that's appropriate.
Honestly, I think brand loyalty is a joke when it comes to these electronics companies. It seems to me to be all the same people running them, and in virtually the same ways. But if one of these companies is more ethical than the others, I'd love to hear it because I would prefer to give them my business.
posted by rue72 at 9:02 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
I think the major misstep was that they wanted us to identify with the reckless douche who sees kids playing in an abandoned building and then orders the building's collapse (I thought the ad had gone to a really dark place for a few seconds there). Though, on a happier note, what with the construction projects and the adults apparently absent because they're at work, it looks like the economy is really picking up in that neighborhood. I think it would have worked better if they'd gone for "dystopian future" a la Blade Runner and it was the kids somehow using Samsung products to make the field themselves. Though for all I know, maybe that's how the idea started out, but the execs decided they wanted to go for an older, stodgier market and told them to insert the developer.
Anyway, I had a Samsung Galaxy S for a couple years and loved it. It gradually died completely, starting with the battery. But before that, it got dropped on the pavement so many times without cracking, and once I had it in my waitressing apron and dropped a whole tray full of waters on it but got it back to life within a day by putting it in a bag of rice. I wanted to get the updated version when I had to get a new phone, but iPhone had the better deal, so what can ya do? Trying to get the best deal is how I got the Samsung Galaxy S in the first place, so I guess that's appropriate.
Honestly, I think brand loyalty is a joke when it comes to these electronics companies. It seems to me to be all the same people running them, and in virtually the same ways. But if one of these companies is more ethical than the others, I'd love to hear it because I would prefer to give them my business.
posted by rue72 at 9:02 PM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
From what I understand the creepy ski lift ad was intended to be for the Korean market, dubbed into Korean.
posted by empath at 3:05 AM on December 23, 2013
posted by empath at 3:05 AM on December 23, 2013
LOL, they used Iggy Pop for a Cadillac commercial a few years back.
Your favorite artists need the money.
posted by spitbull at 5:01 AM on December 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
Your favorite artists need the money.
posted by spitbull at 5:01 AM on December 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
I found the Clash's Jaguar commercial even more egregious.
posted by malocchio at 9:31 AM on December 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by malocchio at 9:31 AM on December 23, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's going to be much easier to list any artists/publishing companies that do not allow their songs to be used in advertising: Beastie Boys, Beatles (apart from I think a Nike ad that dated from when Michael Jackson owned the rights)... ?
posted by colie at 10:14 AM on December 23, 2013
posted by colie at 10:14 AM on December 23, 2013
2006, Revolution, Nike with Jordan and McEnroe.
Everyone has a price.
posted by spitbull at 3:34 AM on December 24, 2013
Everyone has a price.
posted by spitbull at 3:34 AM on December 24, 2013
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posted by filthy light thief at 10:14 AM on December 22, 2013 [2 favorites]