Microsoft sends fake astronauts to invade ‘Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5’

By Christian Brazil Bautista May 27, 2014

microsoft lumianauts terminal samsung galaxy s5 lumia space cadets — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Today in head-scratching oddness, two of the world’s biggest tech companies have engaged in a pecular game of one-upmanship.

Samsung’s recent rebranding of one of the world’s busiest transportation hubs isn’t sitting well with one of its competitors. Microsoft Devices, which used to be the smartphone manufacturing arm of Nokia, mocked the newly-renamed ‘Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5’ of London’s Heathrow Airport by sending “Lumianauts” looking to “reach the Galaxy.”

“Imagine how excited we were then to learn that you can now reach ‘the Galaxy’ via Heathrow’s Terminal 5. This weekend, to make the most of this stellar opportunity, we sent four intrepid Lumianauts to Europe’s busiest airport,” the company said in a blog post.

“Once the brave Lumianauts stepped foot in to the brand new terminal, though, they quickly learned that there was no such thing as a flights to ‘the Galaxy’. Rather, the terminal had (been) taken over by advertising for another mobile phone company. With constellation map in-hand they bowed their heads in disappointment and rang HQ, ‘Microsoft … we have a problem.’”

Samsung’s move to rename Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was already strange. Now, it has inspired a similarly oddball retaliatory stunt. While Microsoft’s practical joke is sure to get some laughs, it shows that the company lacks effective pranksters.

There’s still some time before Samsung’s temporary reign over Heathrow expires, so Google and Apple have time to get in on this. Mostly, just for our amusement. May we recommend an alien invasion?

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Christian Brazil Bautista

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Christian Brazil Bautista is an experienced journalist who has been writing about technology and music for the past decade…

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