>>hliyan+(OP)
I read [Unauthorized Bread (exerpt) by Doctoro](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-...) this year which was pretty approachable read on the topic. Not severely interesting or mind blowing if you're already here hopefully but did make me wonder how I could sneak it into my mums reading list.

>>hliyan+(OP)
IANAL, but could the ADA [1] or equivalent laws be applied to such a situation?

If it was up to a jury, the creepy ads might not get much sympathy.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Ac...

>>hliyan+(OP)
Although adverts on the fridge are absolutely terrible, is this genuine? Here's a reddit post some time before that suggesting the scenario: https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1ow6cpu/appa...

>>xioxox+97
I've seen a photo floating around on Twitter at least: https://x.com/KlonnyPin_Gosch/status/1997179871467094177

No idea if it's not photoshopped though.

>>GaryBl+H7
Of course it might be genuine, but there's also a history of r/LegalAdviceUK getting a number of creative writing exercises. See this post: https://old.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1loyctr/rage...

>>Lapsa+V6
whoa, that's a really neat and cool fact. I never knew this.

for the curious, https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/schizophrenia/blindn...

>>everdr+Ni
Reddit was originally built using fake accounts, who’s to say it ever really stopped.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/reddit-fake-users

>>randyr+mj
Been there and absolutely can see this happening, it is sometimes a prodromal symptom called a 'sign of reference' [1].

I recall during my first psychosis episode thinking a TNT logistics van contained a bomb and was being used as a terrorist vehicle to blow up a building (or maybe at the time I think it could have been targeting myself directly).

Also, in that same episode, the train stations in Sydney were being plastered on every possible space and surface with high contrast white on blue posters that said "HEY TOSSER!" [2]; it was an anti littering ad campaign bringing some levity to the situation. My mind was overwhelmed by both its alerting nature and the fact that everywhere I would turn I'd see a poster, and in my infirmity it felt like someone was pointing a finger an inch from my forehead arresting me to say I should stop being a tosser in the derogatory (Australian slang) sense (though my mind was contending with the many multiple meanings).

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideas_and_delusions_of_referen...

[2]: https://imgur.com/a/wyVDNN4

>>mlrtim+Ih
People said the same thing about cars. People said the same thing about smart TVs. Do you know any cars currently being manufactured that respect your privacy?

https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/cate...

>>staina+Jk
Same. I’m pretty stable but just looking at pictures of that ad in the comments I felt my heart-BMP raise.

It isn’t just the fact that it’s an ad. The intense black and yellow is unsettling with strong ‘warning’ vibes.

Here’s a picture for folks wondering: https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1ow6cpu/appa...

>>tyleo+Om
That's a webpage with an ad being viewed in the browser app.

It isn't part of the "cover screen" (home screen) where the Samsung ads show up.

https://9to5google.com/samsung-smart-fridge-ads-how-to-turn-...

https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10007562/

See >>46173339 .

>>dotanc+Il
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow%27s_Pioneers

>>randyr+mj
Rage bait marketing as some call it:

https://x.com/tbpn/status/1996352945710117030 / https://archive.fo/lTFWl

https://x.com/loganforsyth_/status/1995966653461623049

>>Sidebu+wj
Carol is a very uncommon name, it was last popular in the 40s and 50s so almost every Carol you find today will be in an old folk's home. The odds of two truly independent instances of somebody named Carol appearing in this manner of circumstance is extremely small.

Edit: https://www.babynameatlas.com/name/carol

Also, it came from reddit therefore it is fake. Reddit is a dumpster fire, if we're being generous it's a website for playing around with creative writing exercises. The not so generous interpretation is that reddit users are deranged internet point addicts who habitually lie to get their fix.

>>xioxox+97
Seeing how it actually looks like: https://i.redd.it/bhlz9ioh121g1.jpeg

I find it plausible at least.

>>xioxox+97
It’s not genuine. The fridge doesn’t show full-screen ads, the original Reddit post and image of the ‘Carol’ ad is staged. At best, this is a parable about the slippery slope our ad-ridden society is sliding down.

https://9to5google.com/samsung-smart-fridge-ads-how-to-turn-...

Update 11/14: Samsung has commented on the image posted to Reddit, noting that the ad format shown on the smart fridge display is not one that would appear over the cover screen. Any ad shown would be limited to the cover screen widget, which displays news, weather, and calendar events. Those slides rotate every 10 seconds or so, and an ad is looped in around every 40 seconds.

It appears that the ad shown in the Reddit photo is of the fridge’s Samsung Internet app. Through that, an ad seems to have shown up organically through a third-party website.

Samsung notes that full-screen ads do not appear as part of these recent software updates, and users shouldn’t expect to see ads that take up the entire display.

‘Shown up organically’ seems like a very generous interpretation to me - it seems far more likely that someone viewed it deliberately for the purposes of staging the photo.

>>hliyan+(OP)
HN baited by karma farmers once again.

Here's the /r/assholedesign post: https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1ow6cpu/appa...

It shows a webpage with an ad being displayed in the browser app.

How do we know?

Full-screen ads don't show on the cover screen (home screen).

Here's the investigation:

https://9to5google.com/samsung-smart-fridge-ads-how-to-turn-...

>Any ad shown would be limited to the cover screen widget, which displays news, weather, and calendar events.

>The ad shown in the Reddit photo is of the fridge’s Samsung Internet app. Through that, an ad seems to have shown up organically through a third-party website.

Here's the docs that talk about ads on the cover screen:

https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS10007562/

It's easy for ragebait to short-circuit your critical thinking skills.

Don't let Redditards like /u/Shellnanigans get their fix.

>>mikkup+Jr
It's layers of fake!

>>46173339

(And yes: the karma farmers are either deranged addicts or warming up accounts for onward sale.)

>>Freak_+Jg
"Telly" [1] is a real 55" TV that is available for free. It is designed to always, constantly be running advertisements.

> To reserve a Telly, you must agree to use the device as the main TV in your home, constantly keep it connected to the internet, and regularly watch it. If the company finds that you violate these rules, Telly will ask you to return the TV (and charge a $1,000 fee if you don’t send it back).

1: https://www.theverge.com/televisions/777588/telly-tv-hands-o...

>>Insani+UA
What you are observing is the trick the industry used to get approval for changing LED billboards— they “donate” say fifteen hours per month to public service announcements. This kind of concession is gold to an ambitious public servant, the old prohibitions never stood a chance. The PSA could be “stop electronic billboards” but that was the way they got through high-friction public processes.

Good org on the other side of the issue: Scenic America: https://www.scenic.org/why-scenic-conservation/billboards-an...

>>cracki+dh
Relevant read (not my own): https://simone.org/advertising/

>>hliyan+(OP)
I know this is the sort of story HN would love to be true (and to be clear, I think ads on appliances are Black Mirror level stuff), but this — like most things on Reddit — is made up. [1]

This story, while fun to discuss, should be flagged, and not on the FP of HN.

[1] >>46171868

>>krapp+MD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Mn2NbjlqU

>>grayha+kL
That thread goes into how Samsung has confirmed that this ad can’t show up like it did [1]. There are many comments in that thread debunking this. Which is why I linked the whole thread, not a single comment.

When something posts something on Reddit that sounds far fetched (fun to believe, but unlikely), we (the HN community) should default to skepticism/critical thinking, rather than assuming it’s true without evidence that it is.

[1] >>46173338

>>jader2+zK
You sure about that?

https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1ow6cpu/appa...

>>ForceB+kC
> What kind of company would possibly make ads opt-in?

Amazon has for years: Kindle with ads on the lock screen is $20 cheaper than without: https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Amazon-Kindle-Paperwhite-glar...

>>random+1T
I found a couple of ad free apps within seconds.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.wearefamil...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.vixen.ni...

Is there a certain must-have feature you're looking for?

>>greenc+iS
Back in the day, I chose to buy the Kindle with ads to save a few dollars. (I think it was $10 cheaper; looks like it's $20 now[0].) I 100% found this a worthwhile trade-off, and so did thousands of other consumers.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Amazon-Kindle-Paperwhite-glar...

>>mikkup+Jr
The name Caroline remains popular, and it can be shortened to Carol: https://www.babynameatlas.com/name/caroline

>>dqv+EW
Here's an actual Samshit fridge cover screen with the new ad widget:

https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/...

Here's a GIF of it rotating through the modes:

https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/...

Here's the source article:

https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-smart-fridge-ad-upd...

Now where do I get my 10% commission on /u/Shellnanigans's 67,135 internet points?

>>im3w1l+Y01
Nope, for the simple and trivial to check reason that it's not just an ad, or even just a whole ad campaign. It's the name of a protagonist of a drama, that the ad promotes, using a phrase that is said to that fictional character.

I'm sure you can find the character name "Carol" on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluribus_(TV_series) or similar phrases said to them in the trailer, which you can find if you want to.

>>hliyan+(OP)
At least the fridge didn't play the video version.[1]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rzmFNVBIfCQ

>>pcthro+H11
> TVs with user-hostile firmware are the only options available.

There are "business TVs", which are pure displays. Sceptre sells a whole line of dumb TVs. They also sell widescreen computer monitors.

[1] https://www.sceptre.com/

>>ffsm8+89
Its not minuscule at all. Some studies have employment rates for schizophrenics approaching 50%. In any case the rate is not 0%. Apparently when you look at the literature you find conclusions such as:

Very low employment rates are not intrinsic to schizophrenia, but appear to reflect an interplay between the social and economic pressures that patients face, the labour market and psychological and social barriers to working.[0]

Barriers like you believing you can generalize all schizophrenics to be poor/unemployed and unable to earn.

[0] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/S00127-004-0762-4

>>hliyan+(OP)
The actual ad: https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/s/YD4vBNXfLY

Too bad for the backslash, it’s a great show.

>>goncha+yK
Related discussion: >>43595269

>>randyr+mj
Yes it was made up. A post from two weeks earlier [1] showed a fridge ad saying 'We're sorry we upset you, Carol.' That post now has an update:

> EDIT 2: Hello, I am the original poster of the carol AD image from a month ago. I am a male from America and my name is not Carol. The story about a Schizophrenic woman named carol was most likely fabricated from the 3rd top comment on this post. Thanks!

Come in Hacker News, we're better than this!

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1ow6cpu/appa...

>>hliyan+(OP)
It's a pretty big coincidence that the thing that someone mentioned in passing about in this earlier post[1] happened to come true some days later, from a 4-day-old Reddit account.

The legal advice subreddits are, unfortunately, often the target of some creative writing exercises. I feel like this is probably one, but acknowledge we'll never know for sure.

Either way it's a terrible ad and fridges shouldn't have ads.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1ow6cpu/appa...

>>nish__+aB
As someone who is not Canadian, pretty much the only thing I know about Doug Ford is how actively against road safety Doug Ford is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Ford#Bike_infrastructure

>>hliyan+(OP)
This is a fabricated story/made up post, see here: https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1ow6cpu/appa...

“EDIT 2: Hello, I am the original poster of the carol AD image from a month ago. I am a male from America and my name is not Carol. The story about a Schizophrenic woman named carol was most likely fabricated from the 3rd top comment on this post. Thanks!”

Fake Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1pc7999/my_s...