SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Samsung Electronics’ T7 Shield Portable SSD campaign video has gone viral. The inspiration behind the viral campaign video came from fans after the new product appeared in an official launch film, with many viewers commenting that it looked like a bar of soap.
Samsung Electronics released the new external hard drive, called T7 Shield, in April 2022 with a launch film that outlined its main features: IP65-grade water-resistance and dustproofing, and tough durability that can withstand drops from a 3m height. The video successfully showcased the product’s features but comments on how the product resembles a bar of soap soon started to appear. Then, images of T7 Shield’s doppelganger, a real bar of soap from an Indian brand, began spreading, drawing even more attention to the product’s appearance rather than its features.
The marketing team at Samsung Electronics recognized the opportunity, and quickly worked to create a funny secondary marketing campaign film that directly draws a comparison between T7 Shield and a bar of soap. The video opens with a bar of soap shaped like the T7 Shield. Then abruptly, the background music stops and the question “Samsung soap?” appears, followed by a range of consumer comments asking why it looks like soap. Then the words “not soap” appear, followed by a demonstration of the device’s IPX5 grade waterproof feature by placing it under a shower in the bathroom.
The viral video has amassed 1.3M views and 20,353 likes with over 1,000 comments saying that the video is funny, praising Samsung for turning a crisis into an opportunity, and expressing the brand’s likeability.
