Rosé hasn't been a Samsung ambassador for years, so why did a single photo with an iPhone 18 Pro send fans into meltdown this week? The picture, meant to promote Apple's newest handset, was mocked almost immediately for looking clumsily edited, with the phone appearing to float unnaturally in her hand instead of sitting in it.
Blackpink's endorsement deal with Samsung for Southeast Asia actually expired back in 2020, and members have been spotted carrying iPhones in public ever since, Rosé included, as far back as the 2021 Met Gala.
That history makes this week's backlash less about loyalty and more about execution: if Apple wanted a clean image of one of the world's biggest pop stars holding its flagship phone, why does the result look so unconvincing?
What Blackpink and Samsung Actually Had
Between 2019 and 2020, Blackpink fronted a genuinely large campaign for Samsung's Galaxy A-series, including a limited-edition Blackpink Galaxy A80 sold across Southeast Asia and Galaxy product placement woven into their music videos, most notably 'Kill This Love'.
The tie-up leaned heavily on the pairing of a South Korean tech giant with a South Korean girl group, a partnership built as much on national pride as marketing spend. As the campaigns wound down, members quietly moved on to other phones, and Jisoo in particular was branded a 'traitor' by some fans online after being photographed with a new iPhone.
So Why Is This Photo Different?
With no fresh Samsung activity from Rosé in years, the 'loyalty flip' isn't really the story anymore. The photo itself is driving the reaction.
Rosé is now the face of Apple's Shot on iPhone campaign, promoting her single 'new trick', and reportedly filmed entirely on the iPhone 18 Pro under director Dave Meyers, who also worked on Blackpink's 'Jump'.
Fans expected a polished, official rollout image to match. Instead, they got one that many are convinced was composited rather than shot for real.
Fake Phone or Leak-Proof Compositing?
Commenters on Korean entertainment forums pointed to the unnatural grip as proof the phone was added digitally, with one asking why Apple couldn't simply have sent her a real device.
Apple has not confirmed whether the image was composited, and brands have historically used this kind of editing in pre-launch materials specifically to stop unreleased hardware leaking before an official unveiling. That would make it standard industry practice rather than a blunder, though it hasn't stopped the mockery.
Do you need me to tell you that the iPhone was a render ripped from Apple’s website https://t.co/DCcRNTIOAz
— icon (5-core GPU) (@iconredesign) September 9, 2026
Yall saying it isn’t fake just cause Apple posted it as if that changes anything?? It could still be photoshopped which you can tell it CLEARLY IS.. 😭😭
— Ny ꕤ (@wehrtny) September 9, 2026
Reddit reaction leaned toward outright jokes, with one user suggesting 'new trick' was really about generative AI. These reactions come from fan forums and comment sections, not on-record statements from Rosé, Apple or Samsung.
What This Exposes
The Samsung question has faded into the background, but a bigger one has taken its place. Idols front some of the most lucrative endorsement deals in music, yet they rarely get a say in how those deals are packaged, right down to the phone photoshopped into their own hand.
This week's mockery wasn't really about Rosé at all. It was about a global brand getting caught cutting corners on a star it paid a fortune to represent it properly.
'New trick' lands 17 September, and if the video looks even slightly more convincing than the photo that preceded it, Apple will count that as a win.
