The Truth About the Escobar Folding Phone!

Summary

In this video, Marques Brownlee shares his experience with the Escobar Fold, a rebranded Samsung Galaxy Fold sold by Escobar Inc. Despite multiple orders and initial non-delivery, he eventually received the phone, which was essentially a Galaxy Fold with a gold sticker. Brownlee critiques the company's marketing tactics, including celebrity endorsements and suspicious sales practices, and concludes by advising viewers not to purchase from Escobar Inc., emphasizing the importance of buyer beware when it comes to such dubious tech products.

Takeaways

• 📱 The Escobar fold is a rebranded Samsung Galaxy Fold with a gold sticker on the back, sold at a significantly lower price.
• 💸 MKBHD spent $350 on an Escobar fold in December 2019, but the order remained pending for months without delivery.
• 🤔 There were suspicions about the legitimacy of the Escobar fold, with the company's website appearing unprofessional and making bold claims.
• 🔄 MKBHD ordered a second Escobar fold under a different name, again without receiving the product, totaling $750 spent.
• 📦 After tweeting a negative review, MKBHD unexpectedly received an Escobar fold box at his shipping address.
• 🔑 The Escobar fold's packaging and marketing were of lower quality compared to the original Samsung Galaxy Fold.
• 🤷‍♂️ Many customers did not receive their Escobar fold orders, leading to speculation that the company might be scamming customers.
• 👥 The people behind Escobar Inc. include Roberto Escobar, Pablo Escobar's older brother, and Olaf Gustafson, the CEO of Escobar Inc.
• 🎬 The marketing for the Escobar fold included bizarre YouTube videos and questionable celebrity endorsements.
• 🚫 MKBHD strongly advises against buying anything from Escobar Inc., citing the numerous cases of unfulfilled orders and the company's suspicious practices.
• 📝 For those interested in the tech, MKBHD suggests watching his review of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, as the Escobar fold is essentially the same product.

Q & A

What was the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is the Escobar fold phone, a rebranded version of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, and the questionable practices of the company behind it.

What is the connection between the Escobar fold phone and Pablo Escobar?

The connection is through the use of the Escobar name by the company selling the fold phone, which is associated with Pablo Escobar, a notorious Colombian drug lord.

Why did the narrator order the Escobar fold phone?

The narrator ordered the Escobar fold phone out of curiosity and to review it on his tech channel, despite the dubious nature of the company.

What was the initial experience of the narrator with the Escobar fold phone order?

The initial experience was negative, as the narrator never received the phone after placing the order and noticed suspicious elements on the company's website.

What happened when the narrator tweeted about not receiving the Escobar fold phone?

After tweeting about not receiving the phone, the narrator unexpectedly received an Escobar fold box at his shipping address a few days later.

What did the narrator discover about the Escobar fold phone upon unboxing it?

The narrator discovered that the Escobar fold phone was essentially a Samsung Galaxy Fold with gold adhesive foil on the back, indicating a poor rebranding job.

What is the narrator's theory on how the company behind the Escobar fold is operating?

The narrator theorizes that the company is selectively shipping the phones to people in tech media or those they think will talk about the product, while not shipping to others.

Who are the main people involved with the Escobar fold according to the script?

The main people involved are Roberto Escobar, Pablo Escobar's older brother, and Olaf Gustafson, the CEO of Escobar Inc.

What was the narrator's final recommendation regarding the Escobar fold phone?

The narrator strongly advises against buying the Escobar fold phone or anything associated with the company due to the questionable practices and potential scam.

What is the narrator's view on the marketing tactics used by the company behind the Escobar fold phone?

The narrator finds the marketing tactics bizarre and unprofessional, including the use of celebrity endorsements from people who likely do not understand the context of their involvement.

Outlines

00:00

📱 The Curious Case of the Escobar Fold

In this segment, the narrator, MKBHD, recounts his experience with the Escobar fold phone, a folding smartphone that gained attention due to its association with the infamous Pablo Escobar. Despite the dubious reputation of the brand, the phone intrigued him, and he decided to purchase it for $350. He describes the skepticism surrounding the product and the company, including the unprofessional website and the questionable marketing tactics. MKBHD also mentions his disappointment when the phone never arrived, despite multiple follow-ups and an unresponsive order tracker. The paragraph ends with a twist, as he receives an email from Escobar Inc. asking for his mailing address, sparking renewed interest in the mysterious product.

05:02

🔨 Unveiling the Escobar Fold: A Rebranded Galaxy Fold

This paragraph delves into the unboxing and examination of the Escobar fold phone, which the narrator unexpectedly receives after a series of tweets and emails with the company. He discovers that the Escobar fold is essentially a rebranded Samsung Galaxy Fold, distinguished only by a gold sticker on the back. The narrator compares the Escobar fold to his original Galaxy Fold, noting the identical features and the poor quality of the rebranding job. He also discusses the pricing discrepancy between the two phones, with the Escobar fold being significantly cheaper. The paragraph explores the company's marketing strategy, which seems to target tech reviewers and influencers for preferential treatment, while potentially neglecting other customers. The narrator concludes with a warning against purchasing from the company, based on the numerous instances of unfulfilled orders.

10:04

🚫 The Unscrupulous Marketing of the Escobar Fold

In the final paragraph, the narrator addresses the unethical marketing practices of Escobar Inc., highlighting the company's use of celebrity endorsements, which he suspects were unknowingly obtained through a paid service. He criticizes the company's attempt to associate itself with Samsung, even purchasing a domain to mock the original Galaxy Fold. The narrator also expresses his concern about the preferential treatment he received, suggesting that the company might be selectively shipping phones to tech reviewers to generate positive buzz. He concludes with a strong recommendation against purchasing the Escobar fold or any product associated with the company, emphasizing the importance of consumer safety and the reliability of the source when making tech purchases.

Keywords

💡Folding smartphones

Folding smartphones are a category of mobile devices that feature a flexible screen allowing the phone to fold, providing a larger display in a compact form factor. In the video, folding smartphones are the central theme, with various models like the Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Fold, and Moto Razr mentioned. The video discusses the trend and the specific folding phone by Escobar as part of this category.

💡Escobar Fold

The Escobar Fold is a rebranded version of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, with a gold accent added by Escobar Inc. The video focuses on the controversial nature of this product, its dubious marketing, and the skepticism around its availability and legitimacy. The Escobar Fold is used as an example of a product with a questionable background and business practices.

💡Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar was a notorious Colombian drug lord known for his significant role in the cocaine trade to the United States. In the video, his name is mentioned to provide context for the Escobar Fold phone, which uses his name for marketing despite the negative connotations associated with it.

💡Tech reviewer

A tech reviewer is someone who evaluates and critiques technology products, often through videos or articles. In the script, the speaker identifies as a tech reviewer and shares their experience with the Escobar Fold, including their skepticism and the process of ordering and receiving the product.

💡Scams

Scams refer to fraudulent schemes designed to deceive people, often for financial gain. The video discusses the suspicion that the Escobar Fold might be part of a scam, with many customers not receiving their orders and the company seemingly prioritizing shipping to those who could provide positive publicity.

💡Rebranding

Rebranding is the process of changing the branding of a product to make it appear different or new. In the context of the video, the Escobar Fold is described as a poorly executed rebranding of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, with a simple addition of gold foil to differentiate it.

💡Marketing tactics

Marketing tactics are strategies used to promote a product or service. The video highlights the questionable marketing tactics of Escobar Inc., including the use of the Escobar name, dubious celebrity endorsements, and the creation of misleading promotional content.

💡YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing platform where content creators can post videos for public viewing. In the script, the speaker mentions YouTube as a place where they noticed videos about the Escobar Fold, illustrating the platform's role in spreading awareness about the product.

💡Product unboxing

Product unboxing refers to the experience of opening and reviewing a newly purchased product. The video includes an unboxing segment of the Escobar Fold, which quickly reveals that the product is essentially a rebranded Samsung Galaxy Fold.

💡Celebrity endorsements

Celebrity endorsements are marketing techniques where famous individuals promote a product or service. The video script mentions questionable celebrity endorsements for the Escobar Fold, suggesting that these endorsements may have been purchased and used deceptively.

💡Tech media

Tech media refers to various forms of media that focus on technology news, reviews, and trends. In the video, the speaker discusses how the Escobar Fold gained attention in tech media, partly due to the controversial nature of the product and the company behind it.

Highlights

MKBHD discusses the trend of folding smartphones in 2020 and the various options available.

Mentions skepticism about purchasing folding phones, including the Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Fold, and Moto Razr.

Introduction of the Escobar folding phone, associated with the infamous Pablo Escobar, and its controversial branding.

Pablo Escobar's history as a Colombian drug lord and the negative sentiment associated with his name.

MKBHD's experience ordering the Escobar fold phone and the suspicious nature of the company's website.

MKBHD's decision to purchase the phone despite skepticism, and the subsequent lack of delivery.

The re-emergence of the Escobar fold phone with new headlines and MKBHD's second purchase attempt.

MKBHD's theory that the company selectively ships phones to tech reviewers or influencers.

Unexpected delivery of the Escobar fold phone to MKBHD's shipping address after a critical tweet.

The Escobar fold phone is revealed to be a rebranded Samsung Galaxy Fold with a gold sticker.

MKBHD's comparison between the original Galaxy Fold and the rebranded Escobar fold.

The significant price difference between the genuine Galaxy Fold and the rebranded Escobar fold.

MKBHD's investigation into the company behind the Escobar fold and its questionable marketing tactics.

Analysis of the Escobar Inc. YouTube channel and its bizarre content, including endorsement videos.

MKBHD's warning against purchasing the Escobar fold or any products associated with the company.

Final thoughts on the Escobar fold, urging viewers to watch MKBHD's review of the genuine Galaxy Fold for comparison.

Transcripts

hey what's up guys mkbhd here

alright story time so it's 2020 folding

smartphones are all the rage and there's

a bunch of different options now almost

none of which you should probably

actually buy but I mean we have the

galaxy Z flip from Samsung we have the

Galaxy fold the Moto razor and then sort

of the rest you know everything from the

TCL trifold concept phone to the Royal

flexpa and you may have seen another

story floating around of another folding

phone by Escobar yeah that Escobar just

a little filler in on the Escobar name

if you're not familiar so Pablo Escobar

was the Colombian drug lord ended up

being known as basically the wealthiest

criminal in history for monopolizing

cocaine trade into the United States

before fun fact he died of a gunshot

wound to the head the day before I was

born so you know this isn't exactly a

positive sentiment around this name like

being known for the killings of police

officers and politicians and making

Colombia the murder capital of the world

not the best way to have your name known

but it is a known name like y'all have

heard of Escobar so now suddenly on

every tech website there's this new

folding phone with the Escobar name on

it curiously and it's getting a lot of

eyeballs turning a lot of heads very

interesting and it's 3 to 50 bucks and

looking at the actual phone it is a

curious one it's a gold accent which is

a nice touch but if you study the specs

or the design long enough at all

you literally realize it's just a royal

flux pie with a gold accent taped to it

so naturally I ordered one so on

December 5th 2019 I spent my 350 bucks

free shipping and placed my Escobar fold

order something a lot of people think

about this channel is that like I get

everything for free and while it's true

that I get review units and I will make

first impressions videos with those I

end up buying pretty much everything

that I review on this channel I got so I

haven't reviewed the motor razor folding

phone yet for example because I sent the

review unit back that's what I did the

first impressions with and now the one

that I bought spend allayed by several

weeks so anyway I didn't reach out to

Escobar Inc I didn't

even think to ask if they had a review

program I just quietly bought one so

that was in December and yeah I never

got it I mean I guess I shouldn't be

surprised it was a little suspicious to

begin with I mean you look around their

website and it is it's a little suspect

there's some pretty wild pictures and

statements trying to sell you this phone

some some pretty bold claims and it's

just overall not the most professional

looking website I've ever bought a phone

from but I think we knew from the

beginning I wasn't I've really ever

gonna get this phone like I put down the

money in the off chance I was surprised

and then hey that would be kind of funny

but when I put my order into the tracker

they never updated from pending pending

it just sort of said it was in

production for months so that was it

you know we never made a video on it we

were sharing some other pretty cool

stuff at the time it's sort of went

under the radar

it was just lost money that's sort of

where I thought it would end but then we

saw headlines of another new Escobar

fold phone it was who's the Escobar fold

- and once again there were articles

there were headlines there were even

some videos of this new thing a $400

Escobar folding phone that looks like

this it's a it's looking kind of

familiar again oh that's that's just a

samsung galaxy fold and then on February

2nd I got an email from Escobar Inc just

asking mailing address like what's your

mailing address at that point I was

again like sort of genuinely interested

but after a few back-and-forth so

basically declined because I wanted they

wanted to guarantee a video by sending

it to us and I I wasn't willing to

commit to guaranteeing a video just from

them sending a phone that's not

something we do so they ended up not

sending one but but I I did buy a second

one because apparently I liked giving

money away to anything tech related so

maybe if you guys wanna buy the merch

and support we won't have to worry about

this so much but I bought another

Escobar fold too so I still didn't have

the first one I went to their site again

bought the second one under a different

name so now I've given them $750 free

shipping both times and I've gotten

nothing in return

so for a while I didn't get one and

neither did many

other people but then videos started

popping up and this always happens I've

I've had this happen before where I

declined something in my inbox some

opportunity and then a week later I see

a bunch of videos about it on YouTube in

my sub box etc so this is one of those

things I was curious about because the

product isn't that great but the company

behind it and the the schematics behind

it are so weird so I tweeted this zero

out of 10 would not recommend didn't get

the phone

both times I ordered but then that night

believe it or not when I got home from

the studio to home which is the shipping

address that I put in for my first order

guess what was waiting for me at my door

an Escobar fold box so on February 24th

which is like four days after this this

tweet and the box showing up I got an

email saying that they upgraded my fold

one order to a fold to which I guess I

believe because it had my name on it

from the first order I placed and it

went to the shipping address of my first

order I placed and other people have

gotten the same upgrade happen who who

also happened to be tech reviewers so

like the only reason I'm talking about

this is because it's based around a tech

product like I talk tech but if this was

happening with like a kitchen appliance

product or some makeup product or

something else like that I probably

wouldn't have cared nearly as much but

because it's tech and they really seem

to be trying hard to make it seem like a

great phone to buy well that's what made

it so fascinating to me

[Music]

okay so the unboxing experience super

simple and within about 30 seconds of

using a phone and no I'm not putting my

sim card in it but from using the phone

just for a little bit it's pretty clear

this appears to be a legit samsung

galaxy fold and the new one at that so I

have my regular galaxy fold here with

the dust caps on the hinges and the new

slightly stiffer hinge and everything

and this Escobar fold it's the same

phone with a gold sticker glued to it

no actually it's it's actually a galaxy

fold with gold tinfoil adhesive to it

you take a bit of that gold off of the

hinge on the back and right underneath

is that Samsung logo right where it's

supposed to be and the the gold foil

comes off the back with a box cutter or

a knife or really enough heat to melt

the adhesive so it's not pretty but yeah

it is an actual galaxy fold fully

working - any of the stuff that normally

comes in the box and it's a really poor

rebranding job it's an actual galaxy

fold so from this point if you're

reviewing an Escobar fold - you're

really just reviewing a samsung galaxy

fold with a gold sticker on the back and

some weird pre-installed muggshot

wallpapers but the galaxy fold costs

eighteen hundred dollars and the Escobar

fold - costs four hundred dollars so how

are they pulling this off well it's not

just the lower quality packaging it's

not just the lower quality marketing my

theory is that they are going through

orders finding the names of youtubers or

just people in tech media or people who

they think will talk about the phone if

they get it and shipping those and then

just not shipping the rest that's

probably why they found my first order

cuz I had my name attached to it and why

they upgraded me and shipped mine out

they were probably hoping I would speak

pretty positively about it that's why I

tweeted what I did but if you really

want to get into it they tell everything

on their site so the two main people

involved are these two guys Roberto

Escobar so Pablo Escobar his older

brother and chief of assassinations and

this other guy Olaf Gustafson who is the

CEO of Escobar Inc now I don't know why

both the photos look like mug shots

maybe that's their cool vibe or whatever

but there's a Twitter account behind

this

Olaf guy who honestly just looks like a

younger maybe somewhat tech-savvy dude

who's just convinced this older guy he

can use the Escobar name and make them

lots more money from it

so he's tweeted all these articles and

tons of photos with celebrities somehow

and he seems very proud of any press he

can get in

including when he also cloned the boring

company flamethrower and tried to get

Ilan to stop selling his and when he

helped mr. Escobar start a

cryptocurrency that didn't exactly work

out but the marketing for the Escobar

fold is easily the best part so if you

go to their YouTube channel which is

truly incredible I'll link it below it

currently has about fourteen videos on

it including a one minute video panning

back and forth across five fold phones

maybe all that they'd made at that time

there's an unboxing video that I'm

pretty sure if I show more than about

three more seconds of it it's gonna get

this video D monetized they have a video

called our IP Samsung comm where they

take a bunch of non rebranded original

Galaxy folds out of the box and then put

safety glasses on but no other

protective clothing and then just starts

smashing Galaxy folds with sledgehammers

until they literally catch on fire and

if you look it up if you go to our IP

samsung.com which is in the title and

this whole videos point the Escobar guys

bought that URL and they have a redirect

to Escobar inc.com which is crazy

because this phone wouldn't exist

without Samsung's phone and then there's

two other endorsement videos so I guess

this is really how you make sure you

sell a lot of phones from Chris Hanson

and Anna unka hey guys Chris Hanson here

of Hanson vs. predators and To Catch a

Predator I just wanted to tell you all

that I've seen this amazing new

smartphone called the Escobar fold tube

it appears to be the best phone out

right now I've been looking at the

transcripts so have a seat check it out

and remember I'll be watching

it's probably a good thing they disabled

comments on these videos hi I'm gonna

ain't get from Sweden I used to be

married to the singer Paul Anka and I

just wanted to tell you that they're

Escobar's faulty smartphone it's a

really really incredible innovation from

some amazing people in Stockholm Sweden

I'll hope you guys will enjoy it and use

it a lot

lots of love mmm I also conveniently

both of these celebrities are on a site

called cameo which is where you can send

requests and pay 50 or 100 bucks or so

and get a personalized video in return

I'm pretty sure videos on this site are

typically like Oh have a Arnold

Schwarzenegger say happy birthday to

your friend or something I doubt that

these two people even know that their

videos are being used to help promote a

scam so look I'm a tech reviewer so I'm

typically just focusing on the final

product the finished thing should you

buy it or not but this piece of tech

we've reviewed already it's the Galaxy

fold I've talked about it it just has

gold tin foil on the back so the

interesting part now becomes the

behind-the-scenes part which is the

company that's trying to maybe sell some

of them and also not ship most of them

they're trying to scam you it's one of

those situations where you know you have

to take any preferential treatment you

might get with a gigantic grain of salt

so I guess the lesson we've learned is

there are way way way too many cases of

people not getting there Escobar fold

for me to ever recommend you ever buy

anything from this company so don't

don't buy an Escobar fold too if you

want a galaxy fold that is very pricey

but I also typically don't recommend you

buy one either and and just for your own

safety of money don't buy anything that

any of these guys are associated with at

all I took the hit so you don't have to

there you have it if you want an Escobar

fold review watch my galaxy folder view

I've already done it link below the like

button if you want to check it out

that's pretty much it that's the truth

thanks for watching catch you guys in

the next one peace