OnePlus is smashing phones again

OnePlus is at it once again with yet another bizarre advertising campaign with a ‘shocking’ twist.

The new advert (above) sees OnePlus take its current flagship to the streets of London in the UK. After roping in four participants from off the street (they could be actors, I suppose), it then pits the OnePlus 5T against the iPhone X, iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8, and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 in a series of face-off tests.

Each challenge sees the contestants try to outmatch the OnePlus 5T in the speed stakes.

The categories are: unlocking the phone, taking a picture, turning on the torch, and playing music. As you might expect from a OnePlus advert, the 5T emerges victorious in every round.

After declaring the winner, the apparent organizer of the showdown then appears to throw the loser’s phone on the ground.

What follows is an entirely understandable outburst of bewilderment and anger from each contestant. “Are you f**king kidding me?” says one participant, while another chooses to storm away looking (understandably) livid.

This is all a ruse, of course. It turns out the OnePlus chap actually broke replica phones all along. As well as receiving their prized possessions back, each contestant also receives a free OnePlus 5T for their trouble.

To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what OnePlus is trying to achieve here. Instead of showing off why the OnePlus 5T won each round by, you know, talking up the device’s features and selling points to potential buyers OnePlus instead opts to go for shock value which, to me, offers no real payoff.

In addition, while each person looks a least a little happy to get a free phone at the end of the ordeal, it’s pretty obvious that those smiles are a mixture of genuine excitement but also outright relief that their original phone isn’t actually broken.

OnePlus has a history of smashing phones from other brands, of course. Back during the release of OnePlus’ debut flagship, the Chinese OEM ran a “Smash the Past” promotion that gave consumers the chance to buy a OnePlus One for just $1 if they were willing to destroy their old phone.

The latest promotion isn’t quite as baffling as OnePlus’ recent experiments with blood, dogs, meat, and cacti, but it seems OnePlus’ obsession with ‘edgy’ marketing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.