The Tim Cook Samsung phone ad opens with a man introducing himself from Palmy, then reviewing his new Galaxy Z Fold8. Samsung New Zealand has recruited a namesake of Apple’s Tim Cook for the promotion, according to Gizmodo. The man praising Samsung is a different Tim Cook, from Palmerston North in New Zealand. Samsung gives him the language of an Apple product presentation and lets the shared name deliver the joke. [1]
Tim Cook Samsung Phone Ad Explained
Samsung names its reviewer. His hometown follows. In the opening quoted by Gizmodo, he says, “Hi. I’m Tim Cook, from Palmy,” before identifying the Galaxy Z Fold8 as his new phone. Palmy refers to Palmerston North, which he names in full later in the spot. Gizmodo writer Bruce Gil also describes a slight resemblance between the New Zealand participant and the Apple executive. [1]
The hometown does the work. Samsung can put Tim Cook into a Galaxy promotion because the person appearing in it shares that name, while his introduction tells the audience exactly which Cook is speaking. Apple’s executive does not deliver the endorsement. The premise depends on recognizing the famous name and then following a local man through Samsung’s advertisement, with the Galaxy Z Fold8 providing the reason for his appearance.
Samsung New Zealand ran the campaign, Gizmodo reports. The supplied coverage identifies its star by name and hometown. Samsung’s recruitment process remains unexplained. Those missing details leave the casting story open, but the lines quoted from the advertisement show how Samsung uses its chosen reviewer once the camera starts rolling. [1] Kim Mi-Kyung’s report for Edaily locates the campaign on Samsung Mobile New Zealand’s Instagram account. [4]
Apple’s Presentation Style Gets Borrowed
Cook’s introduction leads into a promotion that mimics Apple’s cinematic advertising style, according to Gizmodo. He describes the future as already here and presents the phone as something that changes everything. Samsung puts those broad promises around its own foldable (a smartphone with a screen that folds). The familiar delivery supplies a second part of the joke, beyond the name on the testimonial. [1] The Verge’s Stevie Bonifield also describes the imitation of Apple’s cinematic product launches. [3]
The reviewer gives his verdict near the end. He calls it the best phone he has owned, then invites people to quote him. Palmerston North gets another mention. His praise is a statement inside a Samsung advertisement. Gizmodo’s account supplies no comparative testing to establish that the Galaxy Z Fold8 outperforms Apple’s iPhone Duo, and the participant’s personal verdict cannot settle that question. Raunak Saha at TechnoSports describes Cook showing the Galaxy Z Fold8 both folded and unfolded. [5]
The closing names Palmerston North again. Samsung keeps the identity clue in the endorsement itself, so the full statement carries both the flattering verdict and the detail that separates its speaker from Apple’s Cook. The Tim Cook Samsung phone ad draws its humor from those two things appearing together. Apple had just presented the iPhone Duo. Samsung’s timing adds another connection. [1]
A Foldable Rival Enters the Story
Gizmodo places the Samsung campaign immediately after Apple’s introduction of the iPhone Duo. Its report describes Apple’s first foldable smartphone. That gives the Galaxy Z Fold8 promotion a direct product rival as well as a familiar executive’s name to play with. Samsung’s reviewer praises a phone in the same broad category that Apple had just entered. The Galaxy Z Fold8 becomes part of the joke. [1]
Samsung’s foldable history reaches back to the original Galaxy Fold in 2019, Gizmodo notes. Google, Motorola and Huawei subsequently released foldable phones too. Apple enters that account after several competitors have already made the format their own, and Samsung uses the moment to place a satisfied Galaxy owner in front of the camera. The advertisement does not need its speaker to explain that history: the name, the product and the imitation of Apple’s presentation style connect the companies within the same scene. The report’s chronology explains the timing of the promotion, without demonstrating which company now makes the better folding phone. [1]
Price is a separate question. PerEXP Teamworks previously covered Gurman’s report on a possible iPhone Duo starting price; that earlier report should remain distinct from confirmed retail terms.
Two Cooks, Two Different Appearances
Gizmodo connects Samsung’s spot to another appearance by the Apple executive himself. Its account describes an Apple presentation opening with Cook apparently taking the central role. John Ternus then takes the spotlight. The report identifies Ternus as Apple’s new CEO (chief executive officer) and says Cook had moved to the role of executive chairman after leading the company for 15 years. [1]
Apple’s sequence also uses an apparent lead character to set up a reveal. Cook describes how the camera should introduce the main figure, according to the dialogue reproduced by Gizmodo. He then redirects the presentation toward Ternus. Samsung’s scene has a different reveal: its Tim Cook identifies himself as a man from Palmerston North. Both sequences depend on who appears to be speaking for whom. Gizmodo establishes no coordination between Apple and Samsung.
The executive transition is background supplied by Gizmodo. The Tim Cook Samsung phone ad itself offers no evidence about Apple’s leadership arrangements, and the research material includes no Apple statement independently confirming that account. The namesake distinction stands separately: the person in Samsung’s promotion is the New Zealand participant identified in the spot, regardless of the job title held by his famous namesake. [1]
Apple’s Cook and Samsung Phones
Searches asking whether Tim Cook uses Samsung run into an identity problem here. The New Zealand Cook describes the Galaxy Z Fold8 as his new phone, but the advertisement provides no evidence that Apple’s Cook personally uses a Samsung handset. It also cannot establish whether the Apple executive likes Samsung phones. The approving comments come from the participant Samsung introduced from Palmerston North. Attributing them to the Apple executive would change the story.
Apple’s reaction remains unreported in the supplied coverage. Gizmodo includes no response from the company or its Cook. [1]
Samsung’s participant closes with permission to quote his verdict: “You can quote me, Tim Cook from Palmerston North.” Anyone repeating the Tim Cook Samsung phone endorsement needs to preserve the hometown that accompanies it. The available coverage leaves another question unanswered: whether Samsung will give the Palmerston North participant another appearance after this promotion, or let his review stand as a single contribution to the rivalry. [1]
- ONLINE NEWS Gil, B. (2026, September 11). Samsung does Tim Cook dirty on his way out the door. Gizmodo. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Samsung gets ‘Tim Cook’ to praise the Galaxy Z Fold 8. (n.d.). Android Authority. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Bonifield, S. (2026, September 11). Samsung says ‘Tim Cook’ bought a Galaxy Fold. The Verge. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Kim, M.-K. (2026, September 12). “Tim Cook has switched to a Galaxy phone”… The ‘surprise twist’ revealed by Samsung. Edaily. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Saha, R. (2026, September 11). Samsung’s “Tim Cook” just trolled Apple, and the internet can’t stop laughing. TechnoSports Media Group. [Article Link]
