“Samsung is committed to innovation and enhancing every day value for our home appliance customers,” a spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. “As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen that value, we are conducting a pilot program to offer promotions and curated advertisements on certain Samsung Family Hub refrigerator models in the U.S. market.”
Part of a software update, advertisements will appear on certain refrigerator cover screens when the Family Hub fridge is idle. Users can dismiss specific advertisements on the cover screen to ensure they won’t be shown for the ad campaign’s duration, and ads will not display when the cover screen is in Art Mode or showing picture albums.
Samsung said in its first phase of the pilot, Family Hub will display ads, but not collect data about consumer ad interactions. The company emphasized the purpose of the pilot program was to more broadly get consumer feedback on the software update features.
Though Samsung users may now have to view an ad while grabbing some orange juice from the fridge, brand loyalists may recognize the company’s strategy of being heavy handed in where it displays marketing.
“First, carrying out household tasks often involves the use of multiple appliances located in different areas of the home,” he said. ”Managing these different tasks across multiple devices can waste time, but the screen resolves these issues by acting as a central control hub that seamlessly connects the home’s appliances. For users, this means they get to control their home environment from wherever they are, saving time and effort.”
At the time, Moon said Samsung did not feature promotions on its displays and had “no plans regarding the inclusion of advertisements on AI Home screens.”
“Any future policies will be guided first and foremost by what best serves our customers’ needs,” he added.
