Backlash as Samsung advert shows woman running alone in the middle of the night

Samsung’s latest advert has been branded as “ridiculous” and “unrealistic” for showing a woman running alone at night with headphones on.

The advert for the Samsung Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds features a young woman running through the streets of a city alone at 2am.

Social media users and women’s safety groups have criticised the tech giant for not reflecting the reality for women, many of whom feel it would be too unsafe to be out alone at night.

Esther Newman, editor of Women’s Running magazine, told BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat that the film “is not representing the truth”.

“Women don’t run at that time because we are too scared to,” she said. “It’s really shocking. I don’t know any woman who would be running at 2am in the morning. Certainly not in a city.”

On Twitter, women slammed the advert, over which the woman running narrates: “Sleep at night. Run faster. Push harder. Follow the herd. Not for me. I run on a different schedule: mine.”

At one point, a man on a bicycle rides alongside her and does tricks on a bridge as she smiles and continues her jog.

One person wrote: “Sorry Samsung but when a woman is wearing headphone running at night and a bike pulls up next to her, she doesn’t smile, relaxed.

“Ridiculous advert. Unfortunately we do not own the night, the real world for female runners at night is quite different.”

Another tweeted: “The Samsung advert where the woman feels empowered to go for her daily run across London at 2am… tell me your agency is all men without telling me.”

A third mused the only woman involved in the making of the advert must have been the actor.

“Hey Samsung, how realistic do you think your advert of a woman running at 2am is on a scale of one to are you mad?” they said.

“This couldn’t be further from the experience of pretty much all women, especially wearing headphones!”

Women’s safety group Reclaim These Streets described the advert as “tone deaf” after 23-year-old Irish primary school teacher Ashling Murphy was killed in January while out on a jog.

Murphy was attacked and murdered in the afternoon on 12 January 2022. A 31-year-old man, Josef Puska, was arrested and charged with her murder the following day and will stand trial next year.

The Independent has contacted Samsung for comment.