Commercial Plot: An obvious attack on the iPhone/Mac fanatics that wait in ridiculously long line for hours, even days; awaiting the next upgrade of a device. The things they do and say as a group to keep their mind focused as they anticipate the arrival of some exciting new miracle device. It is my belief that this kind of behavior, when taken to the extreme has underlying issues that need to be addressed. The kind of marketing Apple has tapped into is creating Tribes as described by Seth Godin of Tribe Management. As much as Apple customers like to make discriminating remarks against all brands, most of them can’t take it when you give it back to them. That’s how die-hard fanatics are for any brand, it’s part of human nature.

Then another phone remarkably similar comes into view by people who are going about their day, not waiting in line; creates a tear in reality for the people in line. Though I am all about this one example of an iJerk™, the long waiting in lines and such, something about this commercial crossed some lines. Seems like in a way, its “Fighting fire with fire”? I’ll try to shorten this breakdown because it is such an obvious crafted commercial that isn’t fearfully hiding any message. In fact, both the iPhone and S2 reminds me of early Sony and HTC designs.

iJerk™ Meter: HIGH -Ridiculing another tribe of consumers; “Us vs Them” tactics.

The Breakdown:

0:00- New York, NY; a long line outside of an Apple Store. On the left side of the screen, you see a post in the window saying, “It’s Coming”. Mocking the way Apple creates anticipation for the fanatics to rejoice over. Building anticipation is an essential part of marketing (Marketing Professor), and Apple for the most part, does it exceptionally well; almost too well (which can be dangerous for those who are iJerks™ because they will devote their whole calendar around the release of a device, just like in this commercial).

0:03- Second shot of the same New York, NY line. A fanatic says, “I’m so amped, I could stay here for 3 weeks!” I’d highly doubt that attempt, but anything is possible. Samsung is trying to illustrate the illogical behavior of Apple fanatics. However, people wait in long lines for many things, such as Black Friday, game and console releases and more. What makes people stand in line for so long? It’s due in part to the experience and primitive human behavior of the need to belong to a tribe. (Seth Godin of Tribe Management)

0:06- San Francisco, CA; long line number 2. A hipster woman on her iPhone chanting, “Nine hours down and I’m almost in the door.” She appears truly excited and is keeping herself in high spirits. (10 things to do while waiting in line for the iPhone)

0:07- A second shot of the San Fran line, as a guy is on his MacBook and friends around him are on their iPhones. Though they are waiting in line, they are keeping themselves busy and immersed through Apple products.

0:09- Denver, Colorado; long line number 3. A fanatic says to another with a sense of urgency, “There are seven people standing between us…” I suppose they are at the front of the line, honestly, if you are that close to the door, that’s quite an accomplishment. Usually to do that, you would have to be there terribly early before the normal time to line up early begins. (Read this to make sure you avoid long lines)

0:12- New York, NY; long line number 1. A dominant fanatic among the group, hoping to reassure himself and others on why they are in line, “This is an event! We’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives.” (Source/Tribe Management/dominant tribesmen)

0:15/16- Boston, MA; long line number 4. Another fanatic is noticing that people are leaving lines and doesn’t understand why anyone would do such a thing. “Why would they be leaving when we are only nine hours away?”

0:19- Seattle, WA; long line number 5. While checking a blog on his iPhone, a fanatic is beginning to get a sense that what he’s waiting in line for may not be worth it after all, “Blogs are saying the battery is sketchy”.

0:21- Chicago, IL; long line number 6 outside of an apple store. One fanatic says to the other after he checks a blog on his iPhone, “If they look the same, how will people know that I upgraded?” A good question, a tactic of marketing is to differentiate your product or service from competition or your past products. It allows for discrimination as well as recognition of a change. “Think Different”, could mean a lot of things. Does a popular phone genuinely need to look different than its predecessor if there is or isn’t a significant change? (source/iPhone changing looks/other source).

0:24– Fanatics on their current iPhone trying to see if the next one will be 4G capable, repeating, “It doesn’t say! It doesn’t say!”

0:26- In the San Francisco line, fanatics are starting to notice something too, another familiar yet strange phone other people have who are not waiting in line. Could they be attracted to its design? If it looks like an iPhone, but yet different, what could it be? Obviously it is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and has captured their attention. (source/sales brain).

0:28– Now we get a much clearer shot of what the fanatics see, a woman looking pretty content on her non-iPhone, waiting for some form of public transportation. How is this so, if it’s not an iPhone?

0:30– What’s this? It’s happening all over, people with a non-iPhone, now in New York. Confused, a fanatic notices another man who is not waiting in line, on a phone similar to the iPhone. The man is content and seems to be going somewhere. So far, we are now being immersed in the experience, “If you stop following others and see what is out there, there are other phones just as enjoyable as the iPhone or even better”. The people who own these phones seem busy or at least on the move living life.

0:33– So they fanatics in line then ask the man who is awaiting a cab, “Hey, bro! Cane we see your phone?” He holds it up in front of them, the fanatic continues, “With our hands?”

0:40– “She totally caught me checking out her phone”, says the fanatic on her iPhone. I’m sorry, but these comments a tad exaggerated, but I have heard comments frightfully close this this during my early days of my research. I would surround myself in the experience so I could experience what iJerks™ experienced. The quotes are not far off.

0:42- “Check out the screen, this thing is huge!” Now we have a clear shot of both phones side by side, they look decidedly identical except for the large screen, placement of the camera and the exterior button interface at the bottom front of the phone. To me, this looks like a better looking iPhone. Could this be some kind of infringement they hope to get away with? I understand how companies can infringe upon the competitions’ ideas and how Apple got most of its modern designs from Sony and HTC products; so what is going on now? Samsung is making bold moves here that could be costly in the future. (source/Apple copying Sony and HTC designs) (Steve Jobs quote on how he steals from people).

0:48- The realization shock that it’s a Samsung. It’s easy to see how they could have been fooled.

0:51- Hilarious fanatic quote “Is this what adultery feels like?” What, the feeling that you have betrayed a loved one that you swore to be faithful to before God? No, this is just being exposed to different things, my friend.

0:57- Here is another classic quote of an iJerk™, “I can never get a Samsung, I’m creative.”, says the guy on his laptop, waiting in line. Sooooo, the brand you choose, means you are creative? Where is the logic in this? Sadly, many people believe this, the status symbol. The illogical faith in a brand that defines who they are as a person, not just with Apple products either. Again, I believe there are underlying issues here, which need to be dealt with. (source/status symbols)

1:03- The Samsung customer says to the Apple customers, “Why don’t you guys just get 4G phones?” Referring to the fact at the time, there were no 4G capable iPhones on the market; even the wireless providers are operating on 4G networks now. This could be something that people care about, data speeds. If so, this is another selling point Samsung is trying to stress to get more customers to buy their phone.

1:07- Another selling point is to show how thin the phone is. Also, the S2 on the left has a more appealing image on it than the one on the right, another selling tactic. Many people like thin phones, which is one of Apple’s main selling points too. (source/thin phones are attractive)

1:10- Samsung customer says to the Apple customers, “This phone is amazing”. Sorry, but I have heard that before, but once a statement like that is made, it makes an impact. (source/word of mouth)

1:14- “The next big thing is already here”, Samsung’s final attempt to put that statement into our heads, displayed as the Samsung customer gets inside his taxi and it drives off. The look on the Apple customer’s faces somewhat match, confusion, resentment and impressed at the same time. The actors in this commercial are quite convincing in their facial expressions.

1:17- Now the Galaxy S2 display of choice, yet only showing different desktops instead of the different colors seen in the video.

1:21- Now the customers in line are trying to deal with having something considered old, mainly because a Samsung customer told them their phone was old. The stage of denial comes in when they try to call one man’s phone ‘retro’ and such. I particular don’t like this ending because once again it is putting even more salt on the wound. Samsung should have ended it, with the looks on the fanatics’ faces, but it suggests they had to take one more stab at Apple fanatics.

Conclusion: Putting salt on an open wound would obviously turn off iPhone/Mac customers for the most part, but could this be what Samsung needed to do to get back in the game? The aftermath of this, no matter how awful it gets, I hope it is worth it for Samsung’s sake.

Update: Lawsuit filed against Samsung for copyright/patent infringement on design, see here.

Update: Lawsuit won by Apple against Samsung, see here.
Steve Jobs’ quote: “Good artists copy, great artists steal”

iPhone 4 influenced by Sony designs, see here.