The electronics company, a major sponsor, is nevertheless ‘delighted’ with the added exposure for its handset.Samsung insists Ellen DeGeneres’s mass celebrity selfie at the Oscars was not an orchestrated marketing stunt, but says it is “delighted” with how it went.
The photograph, taken mid-ceremony with a Samsung smartphone, showed the Oscars host surrounded by celebrities including Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o and Bradley Cooper was retweeted more than 3m times – a record – and momentarily shut down Twitter.
Immediately after Cooper took the photo, DeGeneres remarked that it was the most retweeted photo ever.
Samsung is a major sponsor of the award ceremony and details of its deal with US broadcaster ABC have emerged, but it denies the selfie was part of a product placement deal.
The company said it was “a great surprise for everyone” and it was “delighted to see Ellen organically incorporate the device into the selfie moment”, according to a statement supplied to Techcrunch. Samsung also said it would donate $1.5m to two charities of DeGeneres’s choosing: St Jude’s and the Humane Society.
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