Samsung reportedly behind mock protest flashmob at Apple Store

An Australian Apple Store was bombarded by a mob of people chanting "wake up" and holding signs emblazoned with the same slogan on Thursday, with one source claiming that the stunt was orchestrated by an ad agency working for Samsung.

The Sydney Apple Store saw a small mob of mock protestors spill out of a large black bus with the words "Wake Up." written in bold relief on its side in what was apparently an advertising stunt put together by an agency purportedly working for Samsung, according to blog Mumbrella.

Tongue, a local Australian ad company, is thought to be the instigator of the campaign which is centered around the upcoming release of Samsung's next-generation Galaxy S3 smartphone. An iPhone competitor, the S3 is said to sport a quad-core Exynos processor and was confirmed on Thursday as being ready for launch some time next week.

The information jibes with the website wake-up-australia.com.au, which displays the same "Wake Up." slogan with a countdown timer that is set to reach zero when the new handset is launched in that country. The domain name was registered to New Dialogue, which later rebranded itself as Sydney-based ad agency Tongue.

In addition to the staged protest, the campaign has written the words "Wake Up." on the bottom of the Bondi Ice Bergs pool as well as a number of billboards.

Documenting the incident on video was blogger Nate “Blunty” Burr, who said he happened on the commotion by accident.

Apple is no stranger to protests, with the most recent case involving a Greenpeace demonstration at the company's European headquarters in Ireland over the coal-burning generators used to power iCloud's massive North Carolina datacenter.