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Johannesburg - Samsung is not shy of hosting extravagant launch events. Last month, the smartphone giant flew a couple of City Press staffers to New York for the launch of its new Galaxy S8.
And on Thursday evening, it was party time again as we headed to Pretoria to take in even more of the new device with its sleek “infinity display” and “intelligent interface”.
But, of course, we also went to eat, drink and mingle with a veritable who’s who of new-school A-listers.
The event took place at the spanking-new Time Square Casino in Menlyn at Altitude, its Champagne garden and supper club, where we were greeted with glasses of Moët and set off to mingle and take in the panoramic views.
Ubiquitous emcee Maps Maponyane welcomed guests alongside Justin Hume, Samsung’s marketing boss.
Maponyane was full of love and smiles all evening, engaging with influencers, bloggers and celebs, among them DJ Fresh, Nasty C, Tumi Morake, Slikour, DJ Sphectacula (Sphe Ngwenya), Lira, DJ Euphonik ... just to mention a few. #UnboxYourPhone soon trended on social media.
Could it get more glam? Hell, yeah.
Enter somGAGA. Bang in the middle of Samsung’s demonstration of how water-resistant their new device is, Somizi Mhlongo bounced on to the stage to prove his own water resistance, demanding that people pour Champagne on him.
Maponyane told us later that he’d been a Samsung ambassador for almost a year and hosting events like this is common for him, but delight him every time.
The celebrities and influencers – but not the media and “regular” guests – were told that they could collect their complimentary Samsung S8s on the way out.
I’ll be working on changing my career in time for the S9 launch, then.
