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Lifestyle

24th May 2018

Millions of TV sets in Britain will go blank for eight seconds over the weekend

James Dawson

It’s due during the Champions League final.

Big weekend coming up, this. Liverpool vs. Madrid, could be one for the ages. Could see Mo Salah claiming the trophy for the Reds; could see Mo Salah in tears after Madrid thrash them. It’s up in the air.

One thing that’s not up in the air, though, is that you’re going to shit yourself for eight seconds in the middle of the coverage.

Why? Well, Samsung are planning to show a short ad calculated to trick people into believing their TVs have broken down in the middle of the Champions League final coverage. Seriously. Are they having a laugh?

More than eight million TVs will be “turned off” as part of the campaign – which is designed to promote Samsung’s QLED technology that includes  an ‘ambient’ mode meaning viewers need never see a blank screen again, instead it blends into the TV’s surroundings.

Rebecca Hirst, Marketing Director, Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland commented: “This unique and disruptive marketing campaign has been designed to underscore our messaging in the most dramatic way possible, switching sets off to remind the public that their TV is simply a boring black screen for 90% of the time.”