An unfortunate coincidence has led to a woman with schizophrenia to spend two days in the hospitaland completely adjust your medication, after seeing an Apple TV ad on your Samsung refrigerator.
The coincidence is that the ad called her by namealthough it was not referring to her, but to a character in a series. The woman believed that someone was trying to communicate with her through the refrigeratorso he thought he was suffering from a psychotic break. Fortunately that was not the case, but he had to spend two days in the hospital to have all of his medication adjusted.
The incident opens the debate on the bombardment of advertising from any screen, even on the refrigeratorand how this advertising is activated by default, which could affect people with mental problems who do not know what is happening.
He saw an ad on the refrigerator, and ended up in the hospital
The story is told by the victim’s brother on Reddit. She received a call from her sister, telling her that she had ordered a taxi to go to the hospital, because the refrigerator was trying to talk to her.
This woman, Carol, suffers from schizophrenia, with a strong psychotic break every two years, according to her brother. She can lead a normal life, but she is under heavy medication.
Trying to figure out what had happened, his brother discovered that it was his fault. an Apple TV ad for the hit series To manywhich you can see in the opening photo of the news.
Under a disturbing yellow background if viewed in the dark, the ad reads: “We’re sorry we upset you, Carol.” Bad luck meant that the protagonist of the series, a writer named Carol Sturka, has the same name as this woman who suffers from schizophrenia.
Seeing the message “We’re sorry to bother you, Carol,” she thought someone wanted to talk to her through the refrigerator. This made him believe he was suffering another psychotic break.
His brother asked on Reddit if this can be reportedbut the lawyers who have appeared there assure that it is not. His sister consented to receiving publicity by accepting the contract for the Samsung refrigerator when she started it the first time (those contracts we never read), and there is nothing inappropriate about the ad itself. It’s just a phrase with no disturbing content.
What is questionable here is that advertising is activated automaticallyor by default. It should be a function that must be activated manually by the user, voluntarily.
Samsung allows you to remove ads from the refrigerator screen settings.