On April 3, Friday, a news media outlet reported that Samsung had hired and paid around 500 fake “fans” to attend the launch event of the Galaxy S6 in Shanghai, China.
An investigation from Samsung, however, has revealed that more than 1,100 attendees at the event were formally invited to the event, which took place Shanghai Culture Square, and “under no circumstances has anyone been hired or given money to attend the event.” The company’s investigation found the original story to be “totally groundless and bogus.”
The original report claimed that some of the fake “fans” hired by Samsung earned roughly US$8.14 by staying at the Galaxy S6 launch event for only 15 minutes. The hired “fans” were also required to like Samsung’s Galaxy page on Baidu.
The results of Samsung’s investigation was confirmed by the original media outlet that pushed the story. It has since retracted its story. However, Samsung is “seriously considering” to request the media outlet to issue a “correction” as well.
Samsung sure does not want these reports to make a dent on the Galaxy S6’s popularity, which has received positive reviews from almost all the major media publications out there.
[Via Samsung Tomorrow]