A woman in the UK went to the hospital after a commercial for the Apple TV+ show ‘Pluribus’ on her smart refrigerator caused her to think someone was trying to contact her.
The advertisement, saying “We’re sorry we upset you, Carol,” is for the Apple TV+ show, but the way it was worded made Carol believe she was losing touch with reality.
A Reddit user named Fun-Blueberry-2147 shared that their sister, who has schizophrenia, experiences psychotic episodes roughly every two years. In a recent episode, she saw a message on her refrigerator’s display, thought it was meant for her personally, and immediately took a taxi to the emergency room.
Apparently my samsung fridge has ads now…
byu/Shellnanigans inassholedesign
Doctors watched her closely for two days and changed her medication. Shortly after, her sibling noticed the same ad appearing on Facebook.
The advertisement has a vibrant yellow background and says, “We’re sorry we upset you, Carol.” This message is a direct reference to the story of Pluribus. When shown the ad, Pluribus’s sister confirmed it matched a note she’d seen on her refrigerator.
LegalAdviceUK commenters say ad placement may be an issue
The online conversation sparked a lot of debate about whether the advertisement broke UK advertising standards. A popular comment pointed out that the ad is actually legal, as long as the fridge’s ad-blocking feature wasn’t turned on when the user saw it.
The commenter pointed out that the UK Advertising Standards Authority checks if ads are placed appropriately, and an ad that looks like a personal message coming from a device might be seen as an issue.
My schizophrenic sister hospitalised herself because she throught she was having a psychotic episode where someone was attempting to communciate with her through her fridge. Turns out it was an advert on the LED screen.
byu/Fun-Blueberry-2147 inLegalAdviceUK
Others advised disabling the smart features on the fridge or filing a complaint with the ASA.
Other Samsung fridge owners report seeing the same ad
People on Reddit who aren’t involved in the LegalAdviceUK discussion have also reported seeing the same Pluribus ad on their Samsung smart fridges.
Several users posted pictures of the same screen, asking how to stop ads from appearing on their appliance. One user helpfully shared a link to Samsung’s support website, which explains how to disable these advertisements on the Family Hub.
This incident highlights growing worries about ads on smart home devices, especially when they’re designed to look like personal messages. In this case, the family mistakenly believed the ad was a real communication, leading to a trip to the hospital and a review of their medical care until they realized the truth.
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2025-12-06 19:49