Samsung crows about its 'golden history' of making gold colored phones

In a post to its official global blog on Friday, Samsung addressed critics' claims that it aped Apple's iPhone 5s by releasing a gold Galaxy S4, rattling off a list of eight similarly colored legacy models dating back to 2004.

While the new champagne-hued iPhone 5s was not specifically mentioned in the Samsung Tomorrow [EDITORIAL], allusions are made to Apple's hot-selling handset, not the least of which being the Twitter tag "#8before10" that leads to the post. For clarification, Samsung started sales of the Galaxy S4 Gold Edition on Sept. 8, two days before Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 5s.

"About a month ago on August 27th, Samsung launched the GALAXY S4 Gold edition in the United Arab Emirates (These were available in stores starting September 8th). It’s since also been released in Kuwait and Qatar," writes author "A."

Driving home the point is a descending list of eight gold-clad Samsung handsets, the first dating back to 2004. The record is "definitely not a complete list of gold-colored products made by Samsung," A mentions in a footnote.

That may be true, but it also isn't a list of products limited to those actually available to the public according to another footnote which states, "Not all phones above were commercially available, and those released may have only been open to certain markets." In addition, the author is quite liberal with their definition of "gold," as seen in examples 2 and 3, embedded below.

A bit of artistic license is allowable, considering the post is an [EDITORIAL], though it is unclear if the contents is to be taken seriously, or merely as a bit of light ribbing amongst competitors. The overall tone, however, smacks of confrontation veiled in forced humor.

"By now you probably know that aliens work with Samsung, well so do some gods – Midas, to name one," the anonymous writer says. "Everybody loves gold, which is why we sometimes make phones in that color. (Or sometimes even with actual gold for the body!)."

A quick refresher on Greek mythology: Midas was a man who prayed to the gods for the gift of a "gold touch," whereby anything he laid his hands upon would be turned into the precious metal. In at least one version of the tale, King Midas, once imbued with the power, learned the blessing was, in fact, a curse that caused him to die of hunger. Gold has few nutrients.

Perhaps more unfortunate than the incorrect aside on ancient mythos is Samsung's apparent the disproportionate media attention paid to the iPhone 5s compared to the gold S4. By pointing out that it was first to come out with a gold phone, the company not only throws a spotlight on the gold S4's inability to attract the kind of hype enjoyed by the like-colored 5s, but also brings Apple's marketing prowess to the fore.

The post also makes no mention of demand for the golden Galaxy, or any of the products highlighted in the list of eight, for that matter. Samsung is laying bare a decade's worth of unsuccessful attempts to build a massively popular gold phone, while indirectly pointing out Apple's ability to generate voracious demand for such a device in mere days.

Callow choices notwithstanding, Samsung has managed to get people talking about its "Golden History" in light of, or more accurately because of, Apple's iPhone 5s, as evidenced by this very opinion piece. The plan is either an ingenious gambit, or a thinly shrouded act of desperation.