Last fall, shortly after the release of the Galaxy S III smartphone, it seemed that Samsung was on top of its advertising game. The Korean company was skewering its main competition, Apple, in commercials designed to make fun of Apple devotees and art installations designed to mock Apple’s half-baked maps app. It was odd, then, that the company’s ads for its Galaxy S4 smartphone were a bit more conservative.
That may have changed, however, if a new Samsung ad for Iceland is any indication. Calling the ad avant-garde might be generous – what it really is is bizarre. It begins with a man contemplating an Apple (the fruit, that is). The symbolism is clear, but the man’s existential angst over a red fruit is left unexplained. Switching to a Galaxy S4 appears to give the man incredible dancing prowess, several lady-friends in balaclavas, and a goat. It all culminates in the man taking a bit out of an Apple, which is easily the most straightforward portion of the ad:
