Three days ago, Samsung launched seven teaser ads for its new Galaxy Note 4 phablet, a large-screen phone with a pen-like "stylus" that will be launched on Sept. 3 in Berlin.
Since then one of them has disappeared. Business Insider asked Samsung for an explanation but we have yet to hear back. We'll update this story when the company comments.
The ads all have a similar theme: Whimsical hipsters describe the role the Note plays in their life and work, and then gush with enthusiasm at the idea of the new Note 4, coming soon. But AppleInsider wrote a scathing review of the ads, claiming they are too similar in creative strategy to Apple's ads for the iPhone 5C which also featured whimsical hipsters with colorful lives.
AI called out one ad in particular as being "sexist or simply ignorant." It stars Mark Hunter, the designer behind the "Cobra Snake" retro fashion brand:
Samsung's own new teaser spots, called "Love Notes," similarly present a series of offbeat personalities wearing lots of youthful colors. In Samsung's case, however, the whimsy is turned up several notches and the characters speak without regard for grammar and without any filter on their sexist or simply ignorant personifications of Samsung's phablet as whimsical graphics are overlaid on them via slick post processing.
The first spot presents Mark Hunter, who operates a curiosity shop "inspired by a 90's teenager's bedroom." He refers to his Galaxy Note as his "life companion," and states, "if my Note was [sic] a person, it would be like a super organized secretary, it would be like, really sexy... short skirt... you know."
Since then, the ad has disappeared from YouTube. It is now marked "private." You can see where it used to be on Samsung's YouTube channel:
However, Daily Motion has retained a copy of the ad.
The spot is, frankly, not great. The sexism in it is mild, at worst. Hunter comes across as a stereotype of a hipster obsessed with the '80s and '90s rather than as someone cool you might aspire to be like.
So we do not really know what happened to this ad. We reached out to Hunter also but did not immediately hear back.
Here is one of the other teaser ads for the Note 4:
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