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Uncategorized Saturday, April 28th 2012 at 12:00 pm

Samsung Totally Wasn’t Involved in This Bizarre Anti-Apple Flashmob [UPDATE]

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Updated content follows below.

Last weekend, a group of black-clad people carrying pre-printed signs poured out of a black bus outside the Sydney Apple store. They chanted “wake up!” and shook their signs which bore the same slogan. Most assumed it was some kind of guerrilla marketing campaign, with Samsung being a likely candidate. However, the Korean electronics maker has denied any involvement. 

According to Slashgear, Samsung is as confused as anyone. Samsung representatives are quoted as saying: “Samsung Electronics Australia has nothing to do with the ‘Wake-Up Campaign.”

Samsung was the presumed force behind the event as their recent ads have portrayed Apple fans as ignorant “iSheep” who ignore the obvious benefits of Samsung ownership. That might be a bit of a sarcastic summation, but the recent ads have poked fun at Apple fans waiting in line for products while touting the enhanced features of the Galaxy phones.

In their original reporting on the Wake Up flashmob, Android and Me says that it was put together by the Tongue marketing group. A website, apparently associated with the event, is believed to be counting down to May 6 a date sometime after the unveiling of the next Samsung Galaxy.

It’s possible that Samsung really isn’t involved with the event, and that once the website finishes counting down that we’ll all be let in on the joke. Of course, it’s equally possible that this bewildering event didn’t get the reaction Samsung wanted and they’re simply disassociating themselves with it.

However, someone paid to have those signs printed;those busses rented and customized; and presumably paid those protestors. Like always, we’ll just have to wait and see.

UPDATE 4/30:

Macworld reports that Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM), of all people, might be behind the campaign. They point to a Doubleclick identifier (http://fls.doubleclick.net/activityi;src=2215527;type=black822;);) found in the Wake Up website source code which, when Googled, takes you to the Blackberry Australia website.

And while I thought it was suspicious that the video’s creator Blunty “just happened to be at the Apple store” to film the event, Macworld points out that he’s been extremely friendly to RIM in the past.

What’s more, the Wake Up website appears to be counting down to the day of the Blackberry OS 10 release on July 2. Is this the smoking gun?

(Slashgear via Techmeme, Android and Me)

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  • Anonymous

    Maybe someone should look into if the money trail ends at Intel? Intel, after all, is paying hundreds of millions of dollars (Ultrabook Fund) to Apple’s competitors to help them take down the Macbook Air.

    Anyway, that marketing tactic seems a bit nasty to me. Whoever “done it” should be sued for intimidation and emotional trauma. Shaming another company’s customers crosses a line of decency.

  • http://coatesism.blogspot.com/ Shaun M Coates

    What if it is not a company? I don’t think this is beneath a human rights group. The tactic seems similar to the anti-smoking campaigns of the last decade.

  • Tia

    There’s a big billboard with “wake up” on it on the M4 too. Has no tags as to who its assosiated with.

  • Max Eddy

    I wondered about that myself. A group that believes consumer electronics are an unhealthy distraction, perhaps? It’s worth noting that someone had enough money to not only pay for the event and the people, but the custom signs and logos on the bus.

    My gut is that it’s big money, but who knows.