New Samsung ad knocks iPhone language limitations, features goats
Samsung is taking the battle to Apple in Iceland, knocking the iPhone for its language limitations in a curious new ad that features balaclavas, goats, and lots of apples.
The ad depicts a man poking away at an actual apple much in the way one would on an iPhone, but obviously disappointed with his results. He hangs his head, frustrated with the device, and a caption appears: Get a phone that understands you.
When the man is next shown, he smilingly swipes away at a Samsung Galaxy S4, surrounded by dozens of identical apples all laying unused on the ground. He then breaks into dance, accompanied by four black-clad dancers in ski masks. A goat looks on, its expression inscrutable. The commercial ends with the smiling man taking a bite from an apple while holding a Galaxy S4 to his ear.
The thrust of the commercial is to point out the iPhone's lack of voice control support for Icelandic. Samsung's GS4, though, supports the language, while Apple's Siri and dictation features do not. Samsung's YouTube description for the ad points out email dictation and as voice-driven text messaging as features Icelandic speakers can control in their native language. In the description, Samsung plays to the Icelandic cultural identity by referring to the language "ylh?ra," a reference to the tendency of some in the nation to call the language "?stk?ra ylh?ra," or "beloved warmth."
The commercial is just the latest in a series of Samsung ads poking at the Cupertino company in one way or another. In Samsung, ahead of the iPhone 5's launch, the South Korean tech giant lampooned iPhone line-sitters, and in February the company winked and nodded at the ongoing legal struggle between the two firms. Early May saw another ad poking at Apple, this one showing the difference in feature set between the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S4.
Samsung actually outspent Apple by $68 million in 2012 phone ads. The $401 million the company spent last year was five times what it spent in 2011.
The two companies compete fiercely around the world for market share and profits in the smartphone segment. Samsung's Galaxy line, along with its other handsets, has remained No. 2 to Apple's iPhone in terms of both sales and profitability. The company's flagship handset, the Galaxy S4, has sold 20 million units since its launch two months ago.
The ad depicts a man poking away at an actual apple much in the way one would on an iPhone, but obviously disappointed with his results. He hangs his head, frustrated with the device, and a caption appears: Get a phone that understands you.
When the man is next shown, he smilingly swipes away at a Samsung Galaxy S4, surrounded by dozens of identical apples all laying unused on the ground. He then breaks into dance, accompanied by four black-clad dancers in ski masks. A goat looks on, its expression inscrutable. The commercial ends with the smiling man taking a bite from an apple while holding a Galaxy S4 to his ear.
The thrust of the commercial is to point out the iPhone's lack of voice control support for Icelandic. Samsung's GS4, though, supports the language, while Apple's Siri and dictation features do not. Samsung's YouTube description for the ad points out email dictation and as voice-driven text messaging as features Icelandic speakers can control in their native language. In the description, Samsung plays to the Icelandic cultural identity by referring to the language "ylh?ra," a reference to the tendency of some in the nation to call the language "?stk?ra ylh?ra," or "beloved warmth."
The commercial is just the latest in a series of Samsung ads poking at the Cupertino company in one way or another. In Samsung, ahead of the iPhone 5's launch, the South Korean tech giant lampooned iPhone line-sitters, and in February the company winked and nodded at the ongoing legal struggle between the two firms. Early May saw another ad poking at Apple, this one showing the difference in feature set between the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S4.
Samsung actually outspent Apple by $68 million in 2012 phone ads. The $401 million the company spent last year was five times what it spent in 2011.
The two companies compete fiercely around the world for market share and profits in the smartphone segment. Samsung's Galaxy line, along with its other handsets, has remained No. 2 to Apple's iPhone in terms of both sales and profitability. The company's flagship handset, the Galaxy S4, has sold 20 million units since its launch two months ago.
Comments
Oh look, 4th article talking about Samsung today. Thanks SamsungInsider!
Last time I checked, Apple was leading the way in terms of localization.
From Samsung's own page, their Siri rip-off (S-Voice) only recognize English, French, Spanish, Korean, Italian, and German.
http://www.samsung.com/ae/article/go-hands-free-with-s-voice-for-your-mobile-device
I guess the ad is referring to the basic built-in voice controls that still exist in iOS for Siri-less countries, and its Samsung equivalent, but the ad is obviously made to mislead people into thinking that they're comparing Siri and S-Voice.
Yes, Apple is going to have to pick up their game against Samsung. Hopefully iOS 7 will do just that.
Oh, hang on guys... I, I think I see what's going on here. The young man is confused. See... he thought the Apple was an Apple iPhone. Ha! Get it? Apple! Ha! I can see how easy it is to get the two confused.
I also think this ad will have a broader appeal than just Iceland, influencing mobile purchases by goatherds of all nationalities.
More importantly, it makes me want David Lynch to make TV ads. Inscrutable ones.
to me it says that SameSong users are so stupid they try and make a call on an actual fruit.
and the dancing is just cringe worthy. Samsung are the new M$.
loved the idea of a Goat though. Goats are cool. and sheep. and iPhones
The comments on YouTube were funnier than the ad. Almost all negative. My favorite was, "Nice spot. I want to buy a goat?." I also liked, "I was waiting for M$ Surface popping keyboard action.?"
Horse sands? Yeah, I'll buy that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nagromme
A perfectly legitimate feature distinction, and an original ad concept to boot. This bodes well for Samsung in the Iceland mobile computing market, and will hopefully spur Siri (who has a Nordic name after all) to follow suit, in case Apple forgot. I hope this feature works well and across all apps, and does not backfire on Samsung in the Iceland market.
I also think this ad will have a broader appeal than just Iceland, influencing mobile purchases by goatherds of all nationalities.
More importantly, it makes me want David Lynch to make TV ads. Inscrutable ones.
To me it's still misleading, and "original" is not the same thing as "good." It's a bit weird, but anyone who has been to Iceland (or seen a Bjork video), should know that it kind of fits, in a weird way.
Overall though I don't really care. Although personally I like Bjork and some of the other art produced there, Iceland is a horrible place and the people are all racists almost without exception. You're not even allowed to become an Icelandic citizen without being able to trace your "pure" Icelandic ancestry back to your grandparents. It might as well be Nazi Germany or Israel.
Even if everyone in Iceland bought a Samsung phone and no one ever bought an iPhone, it's still a drop in the bucket in terms of sales.
Well there's a weird statement.
Funny thing is I bet most of the creative people who made this ad actually own iPhones. It's just that they love the money that Samsung pays them. It's al about the money baby...
Quote:
Originally Posted by NotScott
This is why I don't travel abroad.
Oh, help....