Well, this is about as petty as corporate rivalries get – and I'm absolutely here for it. Samsung has decided to celebrate Dyson founder Sir James Dyson's 78th birthday by... wait for it... giving away their own vacuum cleaners. Not to him (though they tried), but to random Brits who show up with birthday cards. The shade of it all!

I nearly spat out my coffee when I read about this marketing stunt this morning. Samsung's basically saying "Happy Birthday, here's proof our vacuums are better than yours" to one of Britain's most successful inventors. Savage.

The "World's Most Powerful" claim – shots fired

Samsung's not being subtle with their Bespoke AI Jet Ultra vacuum. They're flat-out claiming it's the world's most powerful stick vacuum, boasting a whopping 400W of suction power. That's basically like having a small tornado in your living room.

The vacuum hit the market in late March, and comes with a pretty impressive feature – two batteries that let you clean for 160 minutes straight. Who has a house big enough to need that much continuous cleaning time? Apparently someone does.

One battery lasts about 100 minutes (depending on which power setting you're using), and there's a secondary lightweight battery that gives you another hour. That's... actually quite useful for those of us who always forget to charge things. Been there.

That time they tried to hand-deliver a vacuum to Sir Dyson

In what might be the most gloriously awkward marketing move of 2025, Samsung recruited YouTuber Zac Alsop to try and personally deliver one of their vacuums to Sir James Dyson himself by showing up at Dyson's headquarters in Wiltshire.

I would've paid good money to see the receptionist's face.

No word on whether Sir Dyson actually received this birthday "gift," but I'm guessing security probably had something to say about it.

Want a free £1,199 vacuum? Grab a birthday card and get in line

Here's where you might actually benefit from this corporate pettiness. Samsung is giving away 78 of these vacuums (one for each year of Sir Dyson's life – they're really committing to the bit) to the first 78 people who show up at their London store with a birthday card for the man.

The giveaway starts at 11am this Saturday (May 3) at Samsung KX in Coal Drops Yard, London. That's near Kings Cross, for those of you who, like me, need landmarks rather than actual addresses to find anything in London.

Do the math – that's over £90,000 worth of vacuum cleaners they're handing out. For a birthday celebration of their competitor's founder. Marketing budgets are wild in 2025.

The fine print (because of course there is some)

Before you camp out overnight, there are a few rules. You've gotta be 18 or over and bring ID. And no, you can't send your entire family to stand in different spots in the queue – it's one vacuum per household.

I'm honestly tempted to go myself. My ancient vacuum makes noises that I'm pretty sure aren't normal, and teh thought of having something that actually works properly is appealing. Plus, free is free!

Corporate rivalry or genuine innovation?

According to Tanya Weller, Marketing Director for Samsung's Digital Appliances: "At Samsung, innovation is at the heart of everything we do. The Bespoke AI Jet Ultra isn't just powerful, it's the most powerful stick vacuum on the market."

She also mentioned something about AI Cleaning that detects surfaces and adjusts power accordingly. Sounds fancy, but do we really need AI in our vacuum cleaners now? Next they'll be telling us our toasters need blockchain technology.

Listen. I don't know who came up with this marketing stunt, but they deserve a raise. It's petty, it's clever, and it's giving away products worth over £90K. That's how you get people talking about vacuum cleaners, of all things.

If you're near London this weekend and fancy a new vacuum, grab a birthday card and join the queue. Just maybe don't mention to Sir Dyson where you got it if you ever bump into him at a party.