The worst ever marketing fails from smartphone brands
Smartphone manufacturers are familiar with questionable marketing tactics. Some of these practices are so dubious that earlier this year we were able to compile a list of practices to look out for.
Even so, there are questionable practices and then downright bad PR mistakes. We thought it would be a fun idea to round up some of the worst smartphone marketing failures of all time. Note that we’re more concerned with PR faux pas than flawed products. That means, no Fire Phone, Red Hydrogen One or Galaxy Note 7.
Let’s get into a crisis.
Microsoft holds a funeral for the iPhone (2010)
It takes a special kind of courage to hold a funeral for your competitor’s hugely popular product. Even so, Microsoft did just that to mark the release of Windows Phone 7 for manufacturing. Right, phones that shipped with the new mobile platform weren’t even available when Microsoft said goodbye to the iPhone. For some reason the staff even played Michael Jackon’s thriller (see above).
If any platform were dead, it would have to be Windows Phone. Microsoft decided to end feature updates for Windows 10 Mobile in 2017 and officially discontinued the platform in early 2020. Microsoft apparently learned its lesson in not performing a Galaxy Fold funeral when the Surface Duo launched.
Antennagate (2010)
The iPhone 4 already presented a new design in 2010, in which a metal edge and a glass back are used for a distinctive look. Of course, metal is not suitable for cellular connections. For this reason, the company has put some breaks in the frame to improve reception. Unfortunately, it has been found that simply holding the phone often results in dropped calls and a poor signal.
Continue reading: The best signal booster apps and other solutions
“Just avoid keeping it that way,” Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs told an affected customer via email. Claiming that people were holding their phones the wrong way, rather than Apple admitting a problem, led to one of the bigger PR flaws in the smartphone space.
Nokia was surprised by its own Lumia 920 video (2012)
Nokia was arguably the first company to offer optical image stabilization (OIS) in a smartphone, starting with the Lumia 920 in 2012. It even produced a video that shows a smooth video recording while filming cyclists.
It then turned out that instead of the phone itself, Nokia used a DSLR camera mounted on a gimbal. We only knew because people noticed a reflection in the video that shows the entire setup (pictured above).
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Launch Event (2013)
Samsung opted for a theater-style kick-off event for the all-conquering Galaxy S4. However, the entire event served as a cautionary story for how people (especially women) should not be portrayed at a corporate event.
More about Samsung: A story of the Samsung Galaxy S series
When the Galaxy S4 launched, Samsung cast out charming characters like a man who hates his mother-in-law, an attractive Brazilian woman with a creepy backpacker friend, and a drunken housewife in love. All of this made for a painfully crowning watch, and CNET recorded the event superbly at the time.
The following is not possible with the BlackBerry Z10 (2013)
BlackBerry had a fair share of smartphone PR errors. Perhaps the most noticeable marketing flaw, however, was the Superbowl 2013 ad for the BlackBerry Z10. The Z10 was the first smartphone to feature the touch-enabled BlackBerry 10 platform. How did the company highlight the device?
Well, BlackBerry focused on what the Z10 can’t. Yes, a swipe on the phone will cause the owner to catch fire. Another blow results in the owner getting elephant legs. Finally, one more blow turns an arriving tanker truck into thousands of rubber ducks. The concept sounds like something that started out as a joke during a meeting before management actually decided to work with it.
It’s a shame too, because as late as BlackBerry was the touch game, the BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Z10 made for a decent smartphone experience. This was mainly due to the gesture-based user interface previously seen on MeeGo and Palm devices and now on both Android and iOS.
OnePlus Asks People To Smash Their Phones (2014)
OnePlus is no stranger to bombastic and cumbersome PR stunts. The company’s Smash The Past contest is definitely up there as one of the more ridiculous smartphone marketing programs fails. At the competition, a user could buy the OnePlus One for just $ 1, but the catch was that if they won, they would have to destroy their old phone.
Continue reading: OnePlus Phones – A History of the Company’s Full Line of Products
We say “old” phone, but OnePlus was looking for newer devices that could be smashed instead. Needless to say, a lot was wrong with this competition. For one, it was a waste of a good phone that could be recycled or given to someone in need. Then there are the potentially dangerous effects of destroying a device with a lithium battery and glass.
The company needed bad press to change direction and have the winners donate their old phones to a charity instead. Why wasn’t this the first choice?
Everything about the headphone connection (from 2016)
Apple sparked controversy when it decided to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 in 2016. It wasn’t the first company to do this, but it definitely resulted in more manufacturers to follow suit. The company’s decision was justified at the time by Apple’s Phil Schiller, who said removing the headphone jack would take “courage”. It was this infamous line that drew the ire of many observers.
Google and Samsung then mocked Apple for removing the headphone jack and then turning around and sharing phones without a connection. Both brands seem to have since pulled the clips ridiculing Apple. OnePlus founder Carl Pei even went so far as to run a Twitter poll asking people for their thoughts on the headphone jack, with the majority of users expressing their support for the standard. However, it hasn’t stopped the company from disconnecting the 3.5mm connector from their next phone.
Between Apple’s “courage”, ridicule by Android brands and OnePlus that goes against the wishes of its own audience, no one has been a winner in this failed smartphone marketing saga.
Huawei and DSLR images (2016, 2018)
Huawei isn’t the only brand that has used misleading DSLR images to promote smartphones. Samsung Brazil was also caught. But the Chinese manufacturer was arrested at least twice for this.
The first major instance came in 2016 when the company posted a fairly sharp image on Google Plus (remember that?), Which apparently implies that it was captured on the Huawei P9. A look at the EXIF data, of course, revealed that it was actually taken with a Canon camera.
Read: Huawei Buying Guide – All You Need To Know
The second instance occurred in 2018 after a model posted a behind-the-scenes recording of a Huawei Nova 3i commercial (see above) for Egypt. The picture showed that an alleged selfie featured in the advertisement was actually taken with a DSLR camera. Unfortunately, it probably won’t be the last time we hear of DSLR footage misleadingly used to market smartphones.
Opposite’s ridiculously poor ColorOS ads (2019)
We’ve already put a dumb ad on the list, but Oppos ColorOS ads think the pie is remarkably terrible. The company posted two ads on social media last year to highlight the ColorOS 6 Android skin.
The common thread running through these ads is that someone is talking to someone about ColorOS 6 as if they were an actual person. This was followed by the discovery that it was actually an Android skin. It’s a pretty cheesy premise at first, but poor dubbing, terrible voice overs, bad audio editing, and terrible scripts made for one of the unintentionally funnier smartphone marketing programs, fail.
Oppo deleted the ads soon after they posted them, but they can still be found online so you can cringe just like us.
MediaTek Benchmark Scam (2020)
One of the most recent examples of a smartphone PR bug has been the discovery that MediaTek is engaged in benchmark fraud. This isn’t the first time companies have cheated, but it was the latest example. It wasn’t just a specific chipset or OEM Anandtech reported that people like Oppo, Realme, Sony and Xiaomi were affected.
More: The best smartphones to play with
MediaTek denied wrongdoing, claiming that “benchmarking the performance of a chipset to its full potential is consistent with other companies’ practices.” For what it’s worth, rival chipmaker Qualcomm denied engaging in whitelisted benchmark apps, which are the foundation of most fraudulent practices.
LG Poland’s perverse Tiktok ad (2020)
How do you sell the LG V60 and its second screen case? Do you opt for the option of using the second display as a controller? What about running apps side by side? No, LG Poland considered upskirt photography to be a practical use case.
The regional division ran a TikTok video that showed an older man taking upskirt photos of a woman. Somehow, this should show that the V60 and its second screen are a great combination. LG Poland deleted the video shortly afterwards, and LG itself said the department had failed to follow the “proper approval process”.
Are there other major smartphone marketing mistakes that you can think of? Then let us know in the comments below!
