Remember when Samsung used to mock everything about Apple’s iPhone in TV ads that used to go viral on YouTube? Well, it turns out Samsung is still ready to take a hit at competitors when it feels threatened, even if those competitors are its partners.
Samsung this week released a commercial that focuses on the display quality of its smartphones. But if you’ve been keeping up with tech news, you know that can only mean one thing. Samsung is quietly going after Google’s Pixel 2 XL.
Google’s new phablet is riddled with screen issues that are not easy to fix. They affect the overall screen experience, and that’s why the Pixel 2 XL is not exactly a phone I’d recommend to anyone.
Samsung’s passive-aggressive Galaxy S8 and Note 8 commercial is published on YouTube as unlisted. That means you can only watch it if you have the link. The ad only talks about displays, but Samsung doesn’t do any of the talking. The 30-second video is a collection of clips taken from various YouTube videos that praise Samsung screens. “Top tech reviewers share their thoughts on the amazing Galaxy screen,” Samsung says in the video description.
There’s no hit at Google or other competitors. And because Google is still a major partner, don’t expect Samsung to mock it as hard as it used to do in those anti-Apple ads. In fact, Samsung has stopped bashing Apple in its commercials.
But the implications are there because the video was published this week, just as more Pixel 2 XL screen issues were discovered. Samsung really wants everybody to know that its screens are highly praised by users, whereas other OLED screens aren’t. Google’s (and LG’s) Pixel 2 XL problems will surely help Samsung to sell more OLED screens to Apple, Google and others.
The commercial may be unlisted on YouTube, but you can see it in full below:
