{"id":100,"date":"2013-10-07T00:46:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T00:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/?p=100"},"modified":"2020-08-07T03:20:45","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T03:20:45","slug":"gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/2013\/10\/07\/gear\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung\u2019s new Galaxy Gear ad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A month after announcing it, Samsung has begun advertising its Galaxy Gear \u201csmartwatch\u201d on television.\u00a0The first ad<\/a>\u00a0features clips from various movies and TV shows of people talking into and tinkering with\u00a0watches that were more than just watches. It concludes with a shot of someone using a Galaxy Gear. The implication was that we now finally live in the future, thanks to Samsung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many<\/a>\u00a0people<\/a>\u00a0immediately noted that the ad was reminiscent of\u00a0Apple\u2019s original 2007 ad for the iPhone<\/a>, titled simply \u201cHello.\u201d\u00a0The easy thing to say here is that this is just another instance of Samsung aping Apple. It\u2019s a reasonable charge, but it\u2019s also lazy.\u00a0\u00a0These ads are alike in appearance and nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, it\u2019s only fair to point out that the \u201cHello\u201d ad is not typical Apple advertising. Apple\u2019s ads are historically plain, to the point, and focused entirely around the product itself. In \u201cHello\u201d, we see the product for a split second, after a barrage of licensed content with no connection to Apple or Apple products. There\u2019s a reason for that departure, which also must be noted, because Samsung clearly did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cHello\u201d ad worked on a number of levels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. It was a playful introduction to the product<\/li>
  2. It set very low but still very real<\/em> expectations to build perspective<\/li>
  3. It clearly demonstrated progress in technology and design<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The message behind \u201cHello\u201d, and its distinction from the usual Apple product advertisements, was and still is clear: You are not ready for this, so we need to formally introduce you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The iPhone dramatically tore down our understanding of everything that preceded it: phones; computers; software; the Internet; how we consume information; how we communicate; how we are (not) beholden to gigantic infrastructure companies that basically hate us. It\u2019s all done differently now. The Way Things Are was about to become The Way Things Were. So, \u201cHello.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Galaxy Gear ad, and the Galaxy Gear itself, convey none of this. The ad primes us with decades of\u00a0fantastic<\/em>\u00a0expectations\u00a0\u2014 expectations which just about\u00a0any review of the product you can find<\/a>\u00a0will tell you have not been met. It also implicitly, and very ironically, shows just how lacking in vision the product itself is. The iPhone ad says, \u201cWe\u2019re starting over.\u201d The Gear ad says, \u201cWe tried to make that exact thing you\u2019ve seen on TV all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One of the common cheapshots following the Gear announcement back in September was \u201cThis is what we get when Samsung doesn\u2019t have anything to copy.\u201d This new ad is Samsung\u2019s reply. \u201cI beg your pardon, we absolutely<\/em> copied!\u201d It demonstrates not just a lack of creativity in the product, but also a complete lack of awareness in its marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This all stands just the same whether or not you think the TV spot is actually derivative. The problem with this ad is not that it\u2019s ripping anyone off. The problem with this ad is that it exhibits everything wrong with Samsung as a company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A month after announcing it, Samsung has begun advertising its Galaxy Gear \u201csmartwatch\u201d on television.\u00a0The first ad\u00a0features clips from various movies and TV shows of people talking into and tinkering with\u00a0watches that were more than just watches. It concludes with a shot of someone using a Galaxy Gear. The implication was that we now finally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleoutsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}