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Rate the Ad: Samsung: YouTube Camera Trick Challenge

The cell phone manufacturer issues a challenge to YouTube viewers.

Published: Apr 22, 2009
Last week on Rate the Ad, we took a look at an animated frolic featuring Tiger Woods and a forest of furry friends. For the Tiger-branded Gatorade Focus sports drink, TBWA, LA created a spot featuring a young cartoon Woods who works through moments of doubt with talking and singing animals. We wanted to know what you thought of the strange pairing of a kiddy Disney-aesthetic, self-confidence and the golf god himself. Well, when it came to an animated Woods and the outburst of song, there were a lot raised eyebrows in Rate the Ad Land.

Commenter "pv" says, "These are nice but I had to rewatch them when they came on TV because it was the biggest WTF I've experienced in months. These feel so far off brand....Tiger's so inspiring in the flesh, why not use that? This is a big fail in my humble opinion."

Attempting to discern the target demographic, "rdjwilliams" adds, "If the target market is elementary school-age kids who aspire to play golf and are not too jaded to enjoy the old school Disney-like theme, then this is on the mark. Otherwise, it's cute but ineffective."

This week, we turn to a little visual trickery from Samsung on YouTube. London-based The Viral Factory and the mobile handset provider posted a video that challenges the YouTube audience to figure out how they made a camera phone disappear without edits or effects. The video, shot entirely with the Samsung HD camera phone, features a man showing off the phone and a little magic. He eventually walks over to a mirror with the filming phone in hand, swipes his palm in front of the camera and makes the phone disappear. Voila! He then poses the question, how'd I do that? So, how many of you knew how they created the illusion before you read the comments section? What do you think of the tactic? Is this a clever way to engage the internet multitudes, or does it fall flat? Will we be seeing more ad-sponsored riddles online in the coming months? Share your thoughts or favorite magic tricks, below.
9 Comments: By Tes April 22nd, 2009 07:24:06 pm

Reminds me of michel gondry doing camera tricks on YouTube then asking the viewers to work it out...

By albertpena63 April 22nd, 2009 07:31:59 pm

How DID they do that?

By ltjohnson April 22nd, 2009 08:17:12 pm

Why I like this: It's transparent about being a challenge, from Samsung. It doesn't pretend to be a grassroots phenomenon. It's a genuinely interesting riddle. And the medium fits the message brilliantly - especially now that Youtube has HD videos.

By rosenthal April 22nd, 2009 09:03:00 pm

the mirror isn't a mirror

By doctormister April 23rd, 2009 03:49:48 pm

The "mirror" isn't one. It's an opening to another room. Look at the feet in the "mirror" after the trick, as it transitions to the real feet. The position of the feet don't match up with the "reflection" giving away the fake mirror effect. and the camera disappearing - that's just basis sleight of hand. - any decent magician can do that with some practice. Also notice the reflection in the silver vase at the start - the camera obscures the persons face.

By hardjoe April 23rd, 2009 10:06:40 pm

http://tinyurl.com/cqpn25

Check this youtube site to see how it was done

By Koksal_a April 24th, 2009 09:34:49 am

No mirror. Check out the final feet shot.

By blattanzi April 27th, 2009 08:59:14 am

effective. I'll remember Samsung, even though I find the fake girlfriend interaction unconvincing. there's something really creepy about high end ads disguised to seem like "just folks" ... the subtext seems to say, "we know this isn't quite convincing, but we have power." It's a little prince and the pauper... see we can dress like regular folks too. www.zicreative.com

By MonsterMash May 5th, 2009 09:30:30 am

Brilliant.
Agree with blattanzi on the girlfriend.

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