14 DAY TRIAL // The recent report claiming Russia was paying bloggers to write nice things about their country and any Russian products internationally available, including the Yota Phone, does not seem to be an isolated incident.
According to a new report coming from China, Samsung is said to have hired no less than 500 “fans” to attend its Galaxy S6 launch event in the Mainland.
These “fans” have been recruited by several people specialized in the matter, and at least one has confirmed it has brought more than 100 people to this event.
Samsung Galaxy S6 launch event in China was attended by around 1,000 people from which at least half are said to have been especially hired for this specific event.
But Samsung didn't just hire anyone, as one of the recruiters points out. According to this person, the South Korean handset makers was searching for people younger than 30 years that would look like students.
The recruiters were paid for each fan hired to attend the event
Each of these “fans” hired for the Galaxy S6 launch event was paid with 30 yuan ($4.80) for spending a little more than one hour. The recruiter, on the other hand, has been paid by Samsung with 20 yuan ($3.20) for every person he recruited, which makes for a nice amount in the end.
And things don't stop here. Samsung also hired several groups of 20 to 30 people that would be their ambassadors in the country, or professional fans.
They were hired through recruitment ads placed in group chats on popular messaging applications for mobile phones. The application was monitored by a Samsung employee who would also check each applicant's picture, name and phone number.
All those who were hired to attend Samsung's launch event were told by the company's reps to tell the press that they are fans interested in the Galaxy S6.
Ironically, half the people that were taking pictures at Galaxy S6's launch event were using iPhones rather than Samsung's products. What do you make of that?