Apple's Top Executives Were Obsessed With Samsung's Ads That Trashed Apple Fans, Says Samsung's Lawyers

In court, lawyers for Samsung said they have evidence that shows Apple's top executives went "crazy" over Samsung's "Next Big Thing" ad campaign.

Josh Lowensohn of The Verge was at court, covering Apple's lawsuit against Samsung. He wrote up what happened.

Samsung's "Next Big Thing" ads made fun of people who camped out for Apple products. They made people buying Apple stuff look old, and out of touch. Meanwhile, Samsung's products looked cool.

The ads worked so well that the Wall Street Journal wrote a story with the headline, "Has Apple Lost Its Cool To Samsung?"

Samsung lawyer John Quinn said in court that Apple SVP of marketing Phil Schiller emailed a link to that story to his team with a once sentence message that read, "We have a lot of work to do to turn this around."

According to Lowensohn, Quinn said, "This new, edgy marketing strategy ... it drove Apple crazy."

Quinn said Schiller was "obsessed" with the Samsung ad series, and suggested to CEO Tim Cook that Apple consider dropping its long time ad agency to find someone new that could reinvigorate Apple's advertising. Quinn says Apple's board even discussed the idea, though it seems nothing came of it.