Samsung's trolling of Apple is kind of cringeworthy

By Joseph Foley
published

World Cup ad is a massive own goal.

There was a time when brands thought carefully before criticising rivals in ad campaigns. Knocking copy was seen as poor sportsmanship and there was always the risk that highlights a rival's weaknesses rather than your own strengths could backfire. 

That seems to have change of late, and it seems Samsung just can't stop mocking Apple. Even if it's not very clear what it's point is. It's just rolled out another batch of Apple-bashing adds that don't say a great deal about its own products (for example of truly clever ads, see our pic of the best print adverts.

A still from a Samsung advert mocking Apple

The poor iPhone can't join the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4's in their Mexican wave (Image credit: Samsung)

Now, we're totally here for a bit of banter between brands. We've seen some hilarious fun poking in recent years – remember Ikea's cheese grater ad? or KFC's Ikea ad? But they were funny. Samsung's latest digs at Apple just feel a little desperate.

One of the latest is a World Cup-themed ad, in which the brand mocks Apple's lack of a foldable phone. Posted on a Weibo account, it shows a crowd of Galaxy Z Flip4 as football fans performing a Mexican wave in a stadium. A few iPhone's in the crowd show sad emojis (strangely, Samsung emojis) because they're unable to join in.

"It's time to fold together," reads the tagline at the end. The argument seems to be that phones that fold have more fun. And it's not the only recent Samsung ad to take that approach.

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So basically, choose the Galaxy Z Flip4 over an iPhone because... it can flip. And people will think that's cool. Samsung clearly wants to suggest that Apple's falling behind because it hasn't tried to copy it yet. Will that win over those "sitting on the fence." I'm not convinced. I'd be more interested in learning more about the advantages of a foldable screen with a crease down the middle – and as someone commented over on MacRumours, "Samsung continues to look like little kids with these attack ads."

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Joseph Foley
Joseph Foley

Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news and features, updates buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment for creatives, from monitors to accessories and office supplies. A writer and translator, he also works as a project manager at London and Buenos Aires-based design and branding agency Hermana Creatives, where he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing photography, video content, graphic design and collaterals for the hospitality sector. He enjoys photography, particularly nature photography, wellness and he dances Argentine tango.

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