GoKawiilListen to this post
Key Takeaways Samsung has begun testing ads on the large touchscreens of its Family Hub refrigerators.
The move prompted backlash from owners who didn’t expect their appliances to become ad surfaces.
Samsung rivals, like LG and GE, say they have no plans to run third-party ads on their appliance screens.
Imagine walking up to your refrigerator and noticing an advertisement for Tide on its screen. Your fridge has become a billboard.
Ads have increased their infiltration of American homes, touching appliances with screens like fridges, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. One affected customer, 47-year-old Tim Yoder, told the Journal that he first noticed an ad on his $1,400 Samsung smart fridge last fall. He didn’t pay for ads — he paid for an appliance with a touchscreen that lets him control other Samsung technology, stream music and find recipes.
The ads on Yoder’s smart fridge are part of a pilot program Samsung is testing in the U.S. “I guess this is another place for somebody to shove an ad in your face,” Yoder told the Journal.
A Samsung refrigerator. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Americans have largely accepted advertising on smartphones as a reasonable trade-off for access and convenience. They have also grown accustomed to ads creeping into the physical world, from restroom stalls to taxicab screens. Yet one space has remained mostly untouched — the kitchen.
The ads appear only on select Samsung Family Hub refrigerators equipped with screens and internet connectivity. They display as a rectangular banner at the bottom of the screen as part of a widget that also features news, weather updates and a calendar.
... continue reading