Samsung Secretly Deleted Ads That Ridiculed Apple for Doing? Something It Just Did

Samsung has copied one of Apple’s iPhone design decisions after spending years mocking it. Now, Samsung is trying to cover its tracks.

The South Korean phone maker has removed the 3.5mm headphone jack from the latest Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ devices. Samsung isn’t the only one, since most flagship Android manufacturers have followed in Apple’s footsteps in the wake of the iPhone 7.

But what is notable about Samsung is that the company went out of its way to mock Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack in ad spots. Now that the company has followed suit, it’s quietly deleting those ads.

One of the more popular ad spots, “Growing Up,” shows the life of a young man as he gets fed up with Apple products and eventually switches to a Galaxy. One point of contention is the Lightning to 3.5mm adapter, which the young man stares at skeptically in the video.

As spotted by Business Insider, Samsung has removed that ad from its primary YouTube channel (and most of its others). The company has also taken down a series of other ads that mocked the removal of the headphone jack and the dongle adapter.

You can still see the Growing Up ad on Samsung’s Malaysia YouTube channel, however. But there’s no guarantee that the ad will stay up much longer.

While Samsung fans may disagree, the company has a long history of “borrowing” ideas from Apple. This internal document that reads like a guide to make the Galaxy more like an iPhone is just one piece of evidence of that.

On the flip side, Samsung’s ad spots typically take a mocking or trolling tone, often targeting the South Korean firm’s primary rival: Apple.

Samsung has been one of the industry’s most notable holdouts when it comes to the headphone jack. But while the Note 10 and Note 10+ don’t have headphone jack, the lineup actually isn’t Samsung’s first to remove the feature. Back in late 2018, Samsung removed the 3.5mm auxiliary jack from its Galaxy A8 smartphone.

Now, with the release of the first Galaxy flagship sans headphone jack, it seems like the port standard may officially be on its way out.