UPDATE 1120 GMT: Samsung, like Iran's Parliament, is not laughing. “We have absolutely nothing to do with this television spot,” a spokesman said. “It should be noted that [Israel's] HOT cable network utilized a GALAXY Tab in its advertisement solely as a promotional gift. As a member of the global community, Samsung is committed to demonstrating respect for all people and cultures around the globe."
Today's challenge: can you find comedy in the tension over Israel, Iran, and a possible attack on Tehran's nuclear facilities?
That is what an Israeli cable TV company, HOT, has attempted. Its commercial, set in a re-created Isfahan in central Iran, has bumbling Mossad agents --- bemoaning the absence of a kosher restaurant but hoping to meet an Iranian-born Israeli singer --- and a bored operative who cheers himself up with the Samsung Galaxy Tablet offered to HOT's subscribers. And then his finger slips...
Are you amused? Well, Iran's Parliament is not. It has threatened to pass a bill evicting Samsung from the country because the advertisement suggests Israel is “powerful enough to easily destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities or assassinate the country’s nuclear scientists".