j-hope missed Unpacked but still gave Samsung fans a Fold 8 clue
The BTS star skipped Samsung’s London launch, but fan-shot airport footage appeared to show him holding the new wider foldable first.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
BTS star j-hope was absent from Samsung’s Unpacked stage in London, but he still managed to become part of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 rollout.
Samsung introduced its latest foldable devices at the Wednesday event, including a wider version of its book-style phone. j-hope, who fronts the company’s newest Galaxy campaign, did not attend in person. Instead, he appeared in a new Samsung advertisement for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide.
His no-show in London came after a busy few days. Video showed j-hope arriving in Seoul on Tuesday, after BTS co-headlined the first FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show at New York-New Jersey MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
During that 11-minute show, BTS performed “Dynamite,” the group’s English-language hit. The production also included Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, Burna Boy and other performers.
For Samsung watchers and ARMY detectives, the real tease may have happened before the London presentation. Photos and videos of j-hope at Incheon International Airport spread among fans online, and some viewers focused on the foldable phone in his hand.
The device appeared unusually wide and lavender, according to the fan-circulated images and clips. Fans also connected it to footage from a BTS World Tour soundcheck in Paris last week, where j-hope was spotted holding what appeared to be the same phone.
At the time, Samsung had not yet formally announced the model. That led fans to speculate that j-hope had given an early glimpse of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 design and color before the company’s official reveal.
Samsung confirmed the phone at its July 22 Unpacked event in London. The company described the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as shorter and wider than before, a shape meant to make the foldable easier to hold and use.
The Fold was not the only hardware on the bill. Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, which has a more traditional foldable shape, along with the Galaxy Z Flip 8.
Some fans had expected j-hope’s role in the Galaxy campaign to bring him to the Unpacked venue. Instead, Samsung used him through the advertisement shown during the event.
By then, though, the online sleuthing had already done plenty of promo work. Samsung waited for Unpacked to make the Galaxy Z Fold 8 official, while j-hope’s airport appearance appeared to put the lavender foldable in front of fans first.
This story draws on original reporting from Mashable.