“LG has cancelled a series of events promoting the handset as a result of the incident,” BBC News reports. “People arrived with BB guns and knives on sticks for a race to grab smartphone vouchers hanging from helium balloons.”
MacDailyNews Take: What could go wrong?
“Some of those hurt in Seoul on Friday went to hospital and LG has said it will cover related medical costs,” The Beeb reports. “In a statement, the company said that other planned events had been called off because of safety concerns.”
The Beeb reports, “LG released 100 helium balloons, each with a free smartphone voucher, at the so-called G in the Cloud event, which took place in an outdoor park in the Korean capital city… Customers arrived with BB guns to shoot down the balloons and surged forward when they were released. One person carried a pointed staff to the event.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That no one at LG saw any warning signs and let the event proceed tells you all you need to know about the competency level of iPhone wannabes.
Why the recent attacks on LG?
chefpastry , the MDN take is merely a comment on one of Apple’s smartphone competitors holding a promotional stunt with little forethought.
If Apple had hosted a promotional event resulting in injuries, the media would have gone into a shark-feeding-frenzy, tearing Apple apart, noting that Cook can never be as successful as S. Jobs, Apple can no longer innovate, and everyone should sell their Apple shares.
Instead, this story about another ‘smart’phone maker’s media disaster will go unpublicized, because Apple cannot be trashed in this story.
Um, because LG was completely moronic in promoting its new phone by setting people loose in a mad dash to grab a free phone? Because the stupidity of the stunt is astounding?
I’ll give LG credit, LG is trying to create its own look and feel for its smartphones. It is using Android and not an OS of its own creation, but that’s not unexpected.
But when you see people coming to your free phone event with BB guns, knives and sharp sticks you need to call it off before it starts.
LG is as crooked as Samsung in some ways. LG made fridges (often sold under the Sears Kenmore label) which gave estimated running costs that were deliberately faked. The LG motherboard knew when the energy star tests were being run and shut down some features so it appeared the fridge used less electricity than it actually did in the real world. LG confessed to the fraud and has to send owners a check every quarter to compensate for the extra energy costs the fridge incurs. http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Sears/Citrus-Heights-California-95610/Sears-LG-Corp-Fraud-selling-Energy-Star-LG-high-end-refrigerators-Citrus-Heights-Califor-651696
I wouldn’t link to an extortion website
Are you saying that no matter how stupid you see something there is no reason to point it out unless it kind of affects you? Worse still, are you saying that you only attack something if it affects you even if that something is NOT stupid? I understand that these are the criteria upon which Samdung shills become active, i.e. attack when it suits your purpose even if it makes no sense to do so. We, on the otherhand, call stupid when we see stupid. As this definitely is.
You are not making sense. 😎
Amen.
Are you saying you enjoy making light of others sufferings? Worse still, do you enjoy kicking them when they’re down?
WTF do Samsung shills have to do with this topic? I attack those who attack me, not randomly strike at anyone. Yes, I enjoy calling stupid when I see it, stupid.
What an a-hole response to a simple question…
When people show up at an event with weapons of various types, you do not proceed with the event hoping that everything will be OK. It must have been pretty obvious that people intended to pop the balloons after they were released.
On a related note, this event also shows how far people will go to get something for free. It never ceases to amaze me. If there hasn’t been a thorough scientific study of this phenomenon to date, then someone should look into it. It would be entertaining as well as educational.
Cue Les Nessman: “Oh, the humanity”
“It’s Apple’s fault!”
-Samsung lawyer
Obviously WKRP was never aired in Korea.
I loved that episode of WKRP. For the uninitiated: http://youtu.be/lf3mgmEdfwg.
Oops. Guess I should have scrolled down before posting. Darwin Evolved, et al. beat me to it. (See below.)
Next time they should try throwing turkeys out of planes on Thanksgiving day.
deminpa beat me to it!
But I thought turkeys could fly! Really I did!!!
Thaw out the turkey first…
This is the market segment Apple does not need…a race to the bottom, indeed.
To air is human.
Even Ralphie knows that BB Guns are dangerous, especially the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!
With the compass!
Fun movie.
If it were a Samsung event people would have brought shoulder launched rocket propelled grenades instead. Because, you know, an RPG round won’t explode against shitty plastic.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
I need video of this please ASAP!
I guess it could’ve been worse? Could have been piñata’s and baseball bats! Picture that.
WoW… That is just…
If allot of people shows up at an event like this it sure as hell will go wrong. I feel sad for the PR people that came up with this idea.