Back in the 1980s, the idea of dating with the help of a computer was incredibly niche. But in 1988, Samsung predicted floppy disks would be integral to the future of romance. Even if the idea was presented with a bit of ridicule mixed in for good measure.
Samsung ran an advertising campaign in magazines and newspapers throughout 1988 that told readers the future would be wildly different than the 1980s. But Samsung would still be there to help with whatever you needed.
One of the ads from the Samsung campaign featured a blue floppy disk that read “Date Disk, Single Women, Rochester, N.Y.” The fine print described the contents of the disk as a comprehensive listing for the Rochester metro area and listed a “$65 additional charge,” for Elmira, a nearby town.
The text underneath the photo of the floppy read: “How to meet women. 2025 A.D.”
Portion of a Samsung ad that ran in the Nov. 28, 1988 issue of New York magazine. Screenshot: Google Books / New York magazine
Below that portion of the ad, a graphic displayed the Samsung brand and the text, “The monitor you’ll meet them on. 2025 A.D.” The ad copy finished with “Samsung. The future of electronics.”
Portion of a Samsung ad that ran in the Nov. 28, 1988 issue of New York magazine. Screenshot: Google Books / New York magazine
This particular ad ran in the Nov. 28, 1988 issue of New York magazine and it may seem like a rather prescient idea. Today, we take it for granted that just about everyone looking for a romantic partner is open to using apps, even if some people remember the stigma that was still attached to something like that 20 years ago. Saying you met your partner online was a mildly embarrassing thing to admit in the 2000s.
How do we know Samsung was kind of ridiculing the idea of online dating? The other ads from the 1988 campaign were about ridiculous and improbable ideas for the future. One included a photo of Morton Downey, Jr., billing him as a presidential candidate of the year 2008. Downey was a talk show host and star of “trash TV” in the 1980s. Downey had an aggressive right-wing talk show, appeared on Wrestlemania, and starred in an episode of Tales from the Crypt.
From the perspective of 1988, Downey was an unlikely candidate to be president. Just as another ad from the Samsung series seemed very unlikely to come true. The ad predicted that steak would be revealed as health food by the year 2010.
Again, this was something deemed ridiculous in 1988. But we obviously know it wasn’t ridiculous. Steak really is billed as health food here in the 21st century, thanks to folks like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his MAHA movement.
Samsung ads from 1988 that appeared in Smithsonian magazine and predicted life in the future. Images: Samsung
And Downey would not be seen as a necessarily ridiculous candidate for president anymore if he were alive to run in the 2020s. In fact, when I described a couple of these Samsung ads for Smithsonian magazine in 2013 I had no idea just how silly our political future would get, writing:
The ad below ran in the October 1988 issue of Smithsonian magazine and featured Morton Downey, Jr. with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. (Downey died of lung cancer in 2001.) The “trash TV” pioneer appears in the ad as a presidential candidate in the year 2008 — a humorous idea in 1988, but perhaps less bizarre when you consider some recent presidential hopefuls.
That link, as you’ll notice, directs to the Wikipedia page for one Donald J. Trump, who was still two years away from declaring his candidacy for president. I had no idea just how bizarre things were about to get.
Online dating is completely normal here in 2025, even if Samsung could poke a little fun at the idea in 1988. Yes, there were some bulletin boards that people could use in their quest for love, but they were far from the norm. And if we can take away anything from this Samsung campaign, it’s that you can’t really dismiss the most ridiculous idea you have for the world of tomorrow. They often have a way of coming true.
