Some smartphones are smarter than other smartphones," Samsung proclaims in this new 90-second spot, which aired Thursday night on Conan. But mostly, some smartphones appear to be younger than other smartphones. Every adult at this graduation pool party has an iPhone, and every kid has a Samsung Galaxy S4—just like the real world, where iPhone popularity is plummeting and…
No, I'm sorry, that's not happening. But you can't blame Samsung for trying. A company that comprises 20 percent of the GDP of South Korea has a lot of mouths to feed, to say the least.
This is a good ad, but it is a little strange that there's only one joke feature in an ad about really neat stuff that actually does seem kind of off the wall and science fictional. Smellable photos aren't coming out until the GS6, at the soonest. (The phone does all the other stuff, though, right? I mean, I used to have a Palm Pilot that could turn on the TV. God, I'm old, you guys. Like, iPhone old.) I'm also not entirely clear on what the hovering-finger text-reading thing actually is.
72andSunny's best idea here is the music, a plucked-string, piano and viola combo that points up the humor and easily accommodates breaks for punch lines. The casting is good, too, especially the girls by the pool and every one of the parents, who are all very game about playing baby-boomer cluelessness.
As a devoted Apple denialist, I am always up for a few cheap shots at the iPhone. But this ad actually has more on its mind than "Apple users are cultists," which was the point of its very funny campaign for a while. Now, Samsung is actually emphasizing the features of the phone itself, which is … yes, I'm going to definitively call that a good idea.
Here are two more spots. The first will break Tuesday on TV; the second is online only for now.
CREDITS
Client: Samsung Telecommunications America
Project: GS4 Launch Campaign
Agency: 72andSunny
John Boiler CEO, Partner
Jason Norcross Executive Creative Director
Matt Heath Creative Director, Writer
Jason Ambrose Creative Director, Designer
Allison Hayes Sr. Designer
Jason Pollock Lead Writer
Robert Teague Designer
Sam Baerwald Director of Film Production
Angelo Mazzamuto Senior Film Producer
Esther Perls Film Producer
James Townsend Group Brand Director
Andy Silva Brand Manager
Nadia Economides Brand Coordinator
Production: Epoch Films
Michael Downing Director
Melissa Culligan Executive Producer
John Duffin Executive Producer
Francie Moore Line Producer
Editorial: Arcade Editorial
Christjan Jordan Editor (Graduation Party)
Will Hasell Editor (Graduation Photo, Boarding)
Andrew Legget Editor (Swaddle Master, Quick Snooze, Remotely Interested)
Damian Stevens Managing Partner
Nicole Visram Executive Producer
Kirsten Thon-Webb Producer
Trevor Schulte Assistant Editor
Luc Giddens Assistant Editor
Luke McIntosh Assistant Editor
VFX/Animation: Chemical Effects
Sandy Beladino Senior Executive Producer
Liz Lydecker Producer
Dan Lorenzini Lead Sr. Flame Artist
Shauna Prescott Sr. Flame Artist
Jorge Tanaka Flame Assistant
Mat Stevens Head of 3D
Telecine: The Mill Los Angeles
Gregory Reese Colorist (Graduation Party, Graduation Photo, Easy Mode)
All other spots TBD
Music: South Music
Dan Pritkin Head of Production
Jon Darling Creative Director
Robin Holden Composer/Arranger
Sound Design: Barking Owl
Michael Anastasi Sound Designer
Kelly Bayett Executive Producer/Creative Director
Mix House: Play Studios
John Bolen Mixer
Lauren Cascio Executive Producer
Hermann Thumann Assistant