Samsung is under fire after an ad for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Buds 2 aired. It features a woman running alone in the middle of the night in a city, as the debate over women’s safety rage. The South Korean giant has since decided to apologize.
Samsung’s latest advertisement is far from unanimous, even pushing the firm to come out of its reserve to apologize. In question ? The decision to stage a woman running alone in the middle of the night in a city.
Posted on accounts in different countries over the past few weeks, the ad has finally landed on Samsung’s main page. It shows a woman who decides to go running in the middle of the night, at 2:00 am, in the streets of London. The short sequence which we have found and published below, wanted to praise the qualities of Samsung’s latest connected products. We can also see a Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Buds 2 headphones.
The brand highlights in particular the ease of use and the possibility of leaving your smartphone at home, to go and do sports. Yet that’s not really what caught the attention of many women, as the BBC explains. Indeed, voices have been raised for denounce the character « unrealistic » of such publicity. This is the case Esther Newman, editor-in-chief of the magazine and the podcast Women’s Runningwho claims that this advertisement « does not represent the truth ».
“Do….. women work at Samsung? »
« Women don’t run at this time because they are too scared »she explains to BBC Radio 1. And to add: “It’s really shocking. I don’t know any woman running at 2:00 in the morning. Definitely not in a city”. Esther Newman also complains about the production of this advertisement and the desire to highlight a woman running with headphones. “Wearing headphones is a contentious point. Most of the women I know who run don’t wear headphones, even during the day, because they’re worried about their safety. », she adds. A discourse shared by many users on social networks; who denounces the sequence and regrets that it does not address this societal problem.
Just seen a Samsung advert where a woman gets up at 2am and then goes for a run, in the dark, alone, with ear buds in. Do……..any women work at Samsung?
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Evoked across the Channel, the controversy took on significant proportions after a tragic incident that occurred in January. Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old teacher, was killed on Wednesday January 12 while jogging. This feminicide has revived debates around women’s safety. A 2019 Runners World survey found that 84% of women had been harassed during a run, reports The Verge. Conversely, 70% of men had not. Furthermore, 94% of the women surveyed said that no one had helped them when they were harassed.
Samsung reacts and apologizes
Under fire from critics, Samsung was quick to react apologizing. The brand assures that it did not intend « to be insensitive to debates on women’s safety ». “We apologize for how this may have been perceived […] The ‘Night Owls’ campaign was designed with a positive underlying message: to celebrate individuality and the freedom to exercise at all hours ».
Finally, and contrary to what Samsung suggests, it is not always so « simple » to run with your watch. It is sometimes necessary to configure the SOS function of your watch; as well as activating certain features before going to play sports. On the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Apple Watch, we can notably think of detection or emergency calls. It may also be necessary to have a watch compatible with a cellular connection to be less dependent on the smartphone.