I doubt anyone forgot, but they recognize the differences between the two campaigns. The tone of the ads are very different. The PC character in Apple's ads was a likable guy. Mac and PC got along, and Mac insulted PC. The "Genius" in these ads comes across as well, pretty dumb, and the customers as petty and completely unbelievable. Samsung's ads come across as smug, snarky, and negative. Apple's ads were fun, playful, and friendly.
Again, no love for Samsung here (I own about everything Apple) but I just can't see these like that.
The genius character is answering these customer issues pretty much exactly as they would in real life. One
DOES need a dongle to use traditional wired headphones. iPhones
DO NOT ship with a wireless charger in the box. Etc. Go into a real Apple store and do their lines and see what you get back from actual Apple salespeople.
Similarly, the customer characters seem very much like a typical retail shoppers asking questions about a product they might want to buy. These seem to represent the non-fanatic who is not overly intoxicated by whatever Apple has decided to put up for sale regardless of what becoming an owner may require of them to be able to use them as they may have been able to use phones in their past. The consumer on the fence about buying an Apple phone vs. a Samsung phone may indeed ask these very kinds of questions and get these very kinds of answers. They may even react in these ways when reality is dropped on them.
Real-world case: I bought someone a brand new X because they were long-term iPhone fans and their 5s was fading. Initially they were very excited to get such a terrific "latest & greatest" gift. And then they realized the other thing in the box- the dongle- was a required bit of added load/hassle. First question: "Why would Apple do this?"... soon followed by whine about not wanting to keep up with the dongle but wanting to keep using their favorite headphones.
Wireless/Airpods are not a complete solution as bluetooth is a very computing device-centric thing. Try the classic scenario of wanting to watch some live TV in ANY airline's seatback TV service with AirPods/bluetooth. You can't. Lightning? Even worse (in terms of connections outside the Appleverse). But good old headphone jacks can plug right in. Ubiquity has it's (massive) consumer benefits beyond the smallish bubble that is the Apple bubble and/or the computing device bubble. Leaving the jack in would not block anyone from enjoying Airpods/Bluetooth or even Lightning connection options. However, it would provide an
added option so that one set of headphones could readily connect to EVERYTHING without having to be sure you have some extra part with you. And if "the future" options are legitimately and objectively better, they could win over time by simply being better.
Here Samsung offers an option to connect via Bluetooth too. PLUS the more ubiquitous digital wired connection of USB (Lightning will never be as accepted courtesy of Apple licensing fees). AND the most ubiquitous option is available too. No love for Samsung but highlighting greater consumer utility is an old standby in advertising. If we can be objective, I suspect we all know that having the option of the jack (too) would be better than not having it. For example, if Apple put it back in, none of the cheerleaders would fault Apple... just as they don't rip into Apple for keeping it in every other Apple product that has rolled out since.
