A Wider Net

Samsung wanted to make a splash among the hardcore enthusiasts for their new Omnia mobile phone. They realized that the most rabid freaks who follow the phone industry love to produce and watch videos of hot, new, impossible to find products being “unboxed”. It’s a geek ritual that dates back to the days of the stone abacus, when new models were opened in a public square by the winner of a lottery, who had to be a virgin, and who was later fed to a large snake feet first. Clever Samsung saw an opportunity to create the best fake product unboxing video ever. They hoped it would go viral among those hardcore box-watching enthusiasts, who would put it on their blog, Digg it, Tag it, and Tweet it. Ideally it would also spread virally among the second-tier of enthusiasts who actually have to buy the products before opening them. It apparently worked, and I’m obviously one of those geeks. Extra bonus: Now you don’t have to wait for technology to catch up in order to realize your brilliant packaging ideas – just fake it with computer graphics and clever video production.

Found on Engadget.