Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars Selfie Was A Samsung Galaxy Marketing Stunt

The Oscars selfie by Ellen DeGeneres has turned out to not be a candid moment shared by the stars at the Academy Awards. Instead, Samsung was simply promoting its Galaxy Note line of smartphones.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, Ellen DeGeneres Oscars selfie has apparently become one of the most famous selfies ever (personally, I prefer the selfie of the astronaut hovering in his spacesuit over Earth). Regardless of its origins, ever since Ellen tweeted the Oscars selfie Twitter users have loved it, re-tweeting millions of time over this past week.

From the start, the Oscars was a set up by Samsung. Ellen was featured toying around with Samsung smartphones during much of the live broadcast. Even during the red carpet even various people were handed Galaxy smartphones in order to ensure they got some airtime on ABC. So when Ellen handed handed a Galaxy Note 3 to actor Bradley Cooper so he and Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Lawrence could have an Oscars selfie it was all part of the plan.

But the Oscars selfie was still spontaneous to a point. The actors and actresses probably didn’t know it, but Ellen had planned on making selfies ahead of time and she was told to use Samsung devices since they were the sponsor. Samsung executives even trained her on how to use the device effectively in order to ensure the resulting quality of the photos.

Allen Adamson, managing director at Landor Associates, says Ellen DeGeneres’s Oscars selfie was a brilliant marketing ploy:

“It was a great plug for the Samsung brand. Ellen’s selfie is going to be more impactful than their commercials. You can’t buy that magic of going viral.”

Speaking of which, Samsung supposedly spent around $20 million airing ads during the 2014 Oscars, but most people remember the selfie and not the other marketing.

Are you surprised Ellen DeGeneres’s Oscars selfie is just a marketing stunt?