14 DAY TRIAL // Phone manufacturers often go to great lengths to make their products successful, and this sometimes involves paying celebrities across the world to use their devices publicly.
Since these people are often considered to be modern-day influencers, companies pay insane amounts of money just to make sure they are seen holding their phones in hand.
This is the case of Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian reality TV show host, journalist, and politician who recently signed a contract with Samsung to promote their products. In other words, she was paid to show up in public with a Samsung phone.
However, during a recent TV show, the 36-year-old was caught on camera using nothing else than an iPhone X, which is exactly the device that Samsung didn’t want the Russian journalist to be seen using.
iPhone X is one of Apple’s rivals to Samsung’s flagship series of products, which includes Galaxy S9 and Note 9.
Lawsuit already filed
When realizing that she may be seen on live TV using her iPhone X, Sobchak attempted to hide the phone using a sheet of paper. It was already too late, however, and Samsung now wants her to pay for this.
Since she is obliged by contract to use Samsung and Samsung only in public appearances, Sobchak is now being required to pay no less than $1.6 million in damages to the South Korean firm. A report from the Mirror indicates that Samsung has already sued her, though official statements in this regard aren’t yet available.
For what it’s worth, Ksenia Sobchak isn’t the first and certainly not the last celebrity who promotes one phone but is caught using another. Such gaffes happen every once in a while, and most often, the device that’s causing the whole blunder is Apple’s iPhone.
