OnePlus One Smash the Past campaign seems like a sure way to get Disappointed

We’ve seen pretty interesting marketing campaigns over the years but this one takes the cake. You may have heard of the OnePlus One Smash the Past campaign which OnePlus has gone live with today; essentially the basis for it is for people to destroy their phones in the hopes of being one of the first 100 owners of the OnePlus One. Think they’re joking? Check out the trailer for the campaign:

I’m all for phone manufacturers being cocky and showing each other up in cleverÂ advertising and marketing campaigns, but this campaign seems terribly thought out and unnecessarily destructive. According to the Smash the Past website, all you need to do is:

Step 1: fill out an application form (stating your desctruction method);
Step 2: be one of the 100 people chosen to destroy your phone;
Step 3: then share your entry on YouTube.

Step 2 is probably the most crucial detail where OnePlus will actually contact you to give you the go ahead to destroy your device; predictably, however, some eager beavers on YouTube preempted the official rules and destroyed their phones anyway:

I almost feel sorry for the guy at the end of the second video when he dejectedly says “I hope I’m going to get my OnePlus One”. Sorry buddy, not this time.

I can’t imagine OnePlus will be reimbursing these particularly eager people which is part of the reason whyÂ this was such an oversight on their behalf. This is a shame because OnePlus has such a bright future ahead of them but has slightly tarnished it now with this misleading marketing campaign. Let’s hope they don’t do anything quite as radical for its next device. Oh, and if you are actually planning on entering the competition, be aware that there is a shortlist of devices that can be entered to be destroyed; shame, I was looking forward to destroying my Nokia 5110.

What do you think about the OnePlus One Smash the Past campaign? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Smash the Past via Phandroid