Samsung New Zealand plays the “Tim Cook” joke to sell foldables
Samsung NZ cast a real Tim Cook in social videos for Galaxy Z Fold8, tapping Apple rivalry and foldable curiosity to boost shareable product demos.
There is a specific kind of internet satisfaction in watching a brand land a joke that feels obvious in hindsight. “Tim Cook switched phones” is one of those ideas: instantly legible, inherently shareable, and built for the comment section.
In New Zealand, Samsung turned that premise into a short-form social series by casting a real Tim Cook from Palmerston North as an unlikely spokesperson for the Galaxy Z Fold8. The company outlined the bit in an official announcement, then kept the punchline running across multiple posts that lean on name recognition, rivalry culture, and foldable-flex storytelling.
The first Instagram video (posted 11 September) positions Cook as a “convert” who runs through the Z Fold8’s compact folded form, larger unfolded display, AI capabilities, and photo-editing tools. He then lands the kicker: “Best phone I’ve ever had. You can quote me, Tim Cook, from Palmerston North.”
Table of contents
Jump to each section:
- Why the “other Tim Cook” works as a social hook
- What Samsung is actually selling in the Z Fold8 videos
- The rivalry effect: how Apple’s iPhone moment amplified the gag
- What this means for marketers using culture-led creative
Why the “other Tim Cook” works as a social hook
The clever part is not that Samsung made fun of Apple. It is that the joke is “native” to how people scroll.
A name collision is a built-in micro-mystery: you stop, you double-take, you watch long enough to confirm what is happening, and then you share it because it makes your friends do the same. That is the kind of lightweight, low-context humour that performs well in feeds, especially when the punchline lands without needing a brand backstory.
Samsung also treats the spokesperson like a character, not a one-off stunt. By bringing Cook back in multiple videos (review, “why I switched,” unboxing), the series becomes episodic. That matters because serial content trains audiences to expect the next post, rather than treating each video as a standalone ad.
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What Samsung is actually selling in the Z Fold8 videos
Under the gag, Samsung is using a familiar short-form structure: show the product in-hand, call out a few features in plain language, and end on a quotable line that can live beyond the video.
Across the posts, the features called out are consistent and visual:
- The phone’s compact folded form, then the larger unfolded display
- “AI capabilities” framed as part of the future-facing story
- Photo-editing tools demonstrated via Cook editing a photo of himself and choosing a new profile picture
That last detail is doing more marketing work than it looks. “I changed my profile photo” is relatable behaviour that signals camera and editing utility without sounding like a spec sheet. It also quietly positions the device as something you use for identity and social presence, not just productivity.
The rivalry effect: how Apple’s iPhone moment amplified the gag
Samsung’s Tim Cook series lands in the middle of a bigger conversation: Apple’s iPhone 18 Duo launch on 10 September and the resulting wave of brand reactions.
Samsung Mobile US leaned into foldable rivalry with posts like “Welcome to the fold” and “Let us know when you're done reheating our leftovers,” pointing back to Samsung’s longer history in foldables. The moment also widened beyond the two brands, with reactive posts from names including AirAsia MOVE, Canva, Duolingo, KitKat, Motorola, and Wingstop Singapore.
The scale of attention shows why brands chase these windows. CARMA data cited in the story notes Apple’s iPhone 18 launch generated 464,674 mentions and 21.5 million engagements globally between 12 August and 11 September, with the iPhone Duo appearing in 49.2% of launch-related mentions. While Apple dominated the conversation, Samsung’s positive mentions peaked at 4,170 on 10 September, suggesting the comparison cycle can still lift the rival when the internet frames it as a head-to-head storyline.
What this means for marketers using culture-led creative
The easiest way to misunderstand this series is to treat it as “a clever jab.” The more useful lens is: it is a short-form format that reduces explanation time and increases shareability.
- Use a hook people can repeat in one sentence
“Tim Cook switched to Galaxy” is inherently retellable. If the premise cannot survive being paraphrased in a group chat, it will not travel far in feeds. - Let the product demo ride inside the joke, not beside it
The content still hits specific features (fold form, unfolded screen, AI, photo editing), but the viewer experiences them as part of the bit. That is how you avoid the whiplash of “fun cold open, then hard sell.” - Build a character, not a single post
Bringing the same person back for a review, a “why I switched” explanation, and an unboxing creates continuity. Continuity is one of the simplest ways to make branded content feel like something audiences can follow. - Treat competitor moments as distribution, not just commentary
The larger foldable conversation around Apple’s launch created a ready-made audience for foldable-related jokes. The win is not “dunking.” The win is being culturally adjacent to what people are already talking about.
Marketing teams spend a lot of time trying to manufacture attention. This kind of creative shows a different path: borrow attention from existing cultural patterns (name recognition, rivalry narratives, short-form serial posting), then earn the extra seconds needed to show the product doing something tangible.
It also hints at a practical constraint for brands: the internet rewards jokes that are instantly understood. If the concept needs a paragraph of context, it will likely underperform. Samsung’s “other Tim Cook” works because the audience gets it before the brand explains it, and that is the real distribution advantage.
