Simply Put, Samsung Fails at Amateur Video
It's with relief that we can say successful online videos have evolved from the astroturf amateur days.
But Samsung must've been sick when that memo went out -- it's still stuck on that low-budget "Is it real? Can't be!" crap.
In its latest online effort, "Awesome computer comes to life," a woman at a trade show stops by the booth for Samsung's new mini-Notebook, the N310. Two Notebooks, side by side, boast the two lamest faux features imaginable: some kind of hologram effect, and the ability to give life to mischievous putty people.
Mesmerized by the latter, the girl holding the camera goes totally incoherent, communicating her reactions to the claytastic hijinks in facile grunts, gasps, and the occasional feeble laugh.
The script sucks, the premise is beyond gay, and the self-consciously moving camera only filled us with contempt. Bleak work by London's The Viral Factory.
Comments
The days of contrived amateur-style branded video may indeed be over...or maybe not. Maybe we should just let consumers decide. And while I agree that the script leaves something to be desired, I didn't hate it. And I'm certainly not angry about it. In fact, I watched it twice. Well, partly to figure out why anyone would bother to be angry about it, and partly because sometimes nonsense is nice break from the hardsell. Hey, if the point was to create a branded video that they hope goes viral and peripherally helps to sell a few computers, they might just get lucky. We'll see. And if the point was to make at least on ad person angry and rant about how contrived and pointless the video was while declaring it's premise gay...then, clearly, they win.
How sad - that you care this much. Plus your writing is terrible. If your copy skills are that poor that the most interesting thing you can say is "beyond gay" then I think you should try and find another career.
It is obvious what they are doing. They are simply providing something worth watching for entertainment purposes while their logo/brand was clearly stressed but no obvious/hard selling. The public is sick of being sold. People on the internet (and in general) want entertainment, bottom line. It may not have been the all time best, but maybe it would be wise to let go of convention.