SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL -- Speculation is growing about Samsung Electronics possibly teaming up with global sensation BTS for the tech giant’s latest Galaxy devices.

At the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event held at the Palace Fine Arts in San Francisco Tuesday, V, a member of the seven-piece group, made a surprise appearance in a presentation video of the latest Galaxy phones, including the flagship Galaxy S20 and the foldable Galaxy Z Flip.

The screen flashed a photo of V wearing Samsung’s wireless earphone Galaxy Buds, as well as the promotional image of “Black Swan,” BTS’ latest single that was released last month ahead of their planned comeback next week.
 

A Samsung official denied BTS or V are the new face of the Galaxy campaigns but admitted the two parties are mulling diverse collaborations.

“We do have a partnership with BTS and are seeking collaborations in diverse ways,” the official told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity. He declined to further elaborate.

Actually, BTS endorsed LG Electronics’ flagship G7 smartphone back in 2018 as the official campaign ambassador. Unlike its crosstown rival, it is rare for Samsung to feature a celebrity model for its Galaxy S campaigns.
 

V’s appearance at the Galaxy event immediately set Twitter ablaze, sending fans into a frenzy.

“Another tech company used BTS members in a tech presentation. Last year it was Google, this year it was at the Samsung event,” wrote one Twitter user. Another user wrote, “I’ve been an iPhone user for a decade, but I’m going to switch to Galaxy if V’s the model. Samsung’s definitely promoting ‘Black Swan.’” The hashtag #SamsungxTaehyung has been trending on Twitter as well, buoyed by fans’ excitement about the upcoming collaboration between the tech giant and the K-pop juggernaut.

Gearing up for a comeback, BTS will drop its new album “Map of the Soul: 7” on Feb. 21.

By Song Su-hyun and Hong Dam-young (song@heraldcorp.com) (lotus@heraldcorp.com)