A bit of a weird promotion out of Samsung this week, as the company hides the word “phone” in the tiniest way to let people win phones.
We’re not usually one to talk about promotions on this site, particularly when they’re clearly blatant advertising pushes, but Samsung has one this week that is a little cute.
By now, you’re probably aware just how big a deal cameras are in phones. It’s probably much of the reason we look at buying a new phone, because the better the camera, the less likely we are to buy a new proper camera, a sentiment that is no doubt having an effect on camera sales.
Despite this, camera companies are doing what they can to push on ahead, and we’re seeing some cool cameras come on out, such as the telescopic cameras from Nikon and the vast array of mirrorless cameras boasting video capabilities from Sony, the 6K capability Panasonic has, as well as those big lenses and sensors from Canon’s EOS R range, to name a few.
Phone cameras keep on getting better, though, and keep on tempting consumers, and in a move to highlight the importance of zoom in phone cameras, Samsung is throwing a bit of a competition in the eyeline of Australian consumers, specifically hiding the word “phone” in advertisements for the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
It’s something Samsung Australia is calling the “microcodes” promotion, as the company will include the word “phone” written in a geometric way. That is to say, “phone” won’t appear directly as the word, but rather out of alignment inside a portion of ads going all over the place, be it on TV, cinema, online banners, Instagram, Facebook, and at Samsung stores.
Once found, people are being encourages to use their phone to find the code with their phone camera, and type it into the Microcodes website, with only the first to enter it winning a Galaxy S20 Ultra phone. The word “phone” probably won’t be a standard spelling, either, with other characters likely used, such as a zero for an “o” or a three for an “e”, in case you’re wondering how this all works. It’ll be small and it will likely be in a slightly geometric design, and that’s thanks to Samsung pushing the idea of zoom.
The gimmick here comes from the S20 Ultra, which includes a 10x hybrid optical camera that can be used with a 100x digital zoom lens, something Samsung calls “Space Zoom”, but is very similar to the approach to zoom seen in the 50x zoom of last year’s Huawei P30 Pro. While the technology is largely about blowing up pixels and then sharpening the outcome, Samsung’s Microcodes campaign appears all about raising awareness of the inclusion of such a large zoom, particularly since it wants you to get closer to the ads.
We’re not quite sure the extent at which the codes will be found in the ads, but given that size is the focus here, suspect you could zoom in using your phone or tablet if presented in an online capacity, while you might want your phone’s camera for a printed advertisement.
According to Samsung’s terms, only one prize per eligible entrant is allowed, so the company is attempting to limit folks trying to win the whole score of S20 Ultra phones being given away, with 101 Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G phones being given away, a price pool that sits at over $200K, even if each phone is worth an RRP of $1999.
You’ll find the promotion running across Samsung ads from this week all the way to the end of May, though if you get sick and tired of staring at ads, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
