There's a new ALS Ice Bucket Challenger in town, and although it's not a person or a group of people, the challenger is controversial nonetheless. Samsung is the latest company who have taken on the fundraising stunt, but is causing controversy because of its choice to market its smartphone's waterproof capabilities while also poking fun of its competitors, particularly Apple.
The video of Samsung Galaxy S5 doing the Ice Bucket Challenge is accompanied by the phone's artificial assistant, who said, "I am the Samsung Galaxy S5. This is my Ice Bucket Challenge." When the phone was poured with cold water with ice cubes, the voice reacted to what a normal person would do when being showered with icy liquid.
The S5 has been awarded the IP67 certification, which means it is safe to dunk the phone into depths up to 3 feet for 30 minutes. Before the dousing of cold water, Samsung then challenged iPhone 5S, HTC One M8, and Nokia 930. GSM Arena then shared videos in which both HTC One M8 and Nokia 930 models, who do not have waterproof specifications, have "emerged unscathed" after being doused with cold water. The mobile tech blog credits the IPX3 splash-resistant metal feature of the HTC One M8, while Nokia's latest smartphone, who has long been known in the industry as one of the most durable phone makers in the business, managed to escape malfunction when its 3.5mm audio jack was sealed prior to the challenge.
iPhone 5S is predicted to not respond to the challenge.
Samsung is not the first company to turn the popular campaign into an advertisement boost for their product, TIME says. Chili's Grill & Bar reportedly did the challenge and donated, while also nominating Applebees, Chipotle, and Dr Pepper in the same breathe. Ecumenical News, on the other hand, said in its piece that Samsung's take on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was mainly to "bash Apple's non-waterproof iPhone." According to the article, the Korean company used the campaign for ALS awareness and turned it into its own campaign to "taunt its rivals." The article continued, which read, "The level of tact is questionable, especially after backlashes that the ice bucket challenge has received from skeptics."
Check out Samsung's cool ice bucket challenge below and share us your thoughts!
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