Samsung: ads pushed onto Family Hub refrigerator screens after purchase

Samsung's Family Hub refrigerators have large built-in touchscreens and cost between $1,800 and $3,500 in the United States. In September 2025, through a software update, Samsung began pushing advertisements onto the refrigerator screens. Buyers never agreed to an ad-supported fridge.

Published Jun 15, 2026

What happened

In April 2025, Samsung's EVP, Jeong Seung Moon, stated to The Verge that Samsung had "no plans regarding the inclusion of advertisements on AI Home screens," reported by AdExchanger that May. A Reddit user surfaced the update changelog on September 16, 2025, and two days later Samsung confirmed to Android Authority that it was running "a pilot program to offer promotions and curated advertisements on certain Samsung Family Hub refrigerator models in the U.S. market."

The ads run on the Cover Screen when the screen is idle, on the Weather, Color, and Daily Board themes. They can be dismissed one at a time but come back after the campaign period. consumerrights.wiki records that the update arrived over the network and couldn't be declined without losing smart features, with no way at launch to shut the ads off; Samsung has since added a Cover screen Ads switch under Settings, Advertisements. Reaction on social platforms and tech forums ran negative, down to ad-blocking workarounds and boycott calls.

Nobody had to bypass a lock for any of this. The ads arrived through Samsung's own software update and its own terms, which is control that doesn't need a Section 1201 lock behind it.

FULU's takeaway

It's a clear example of how smart devices can be quietly changed after purchase to serve the manufacturer, not you.

Why this is a law problem

Most of these entries involve a digital lock guarding copyrighted software, and a lock like that sits under Section 1201 of the DMCA, 17 U.S.C. 1201. Subsection 1201(a)(1) makes it unlawful to bypass a lock that controls access to a copyrighted work, even when no copyright is infringed. Subsections 1201(a)(2) and 1201(b)(1) separately ban making or distributing the tools that do the bypassing.

Every three years the Librarian of Congress can exempt narrow classes of uses from the first ban. An exemption expires after three years and has to be re-argued, and the rulemaking has no authority over the tool bans, so a granted exemption still leaves no lawful supplier for the means to use it. FULU exists to reform or revoke this statute.

If you want this law changed, donations fund the work. FULU is a 501(c)(4). Donations to FULU are not tax-deductible, which is the tradeoff for being able to lobby without a limit.

Nothing on these pages says any company named here violated Section 1201. FULU is not a law firm, and this is not legal advice.

The original post

The slides below are the originals as posted. Where a slide and the text on this page disagree, go by the text; the text is the corrected, sourced record. Some slides also print an old wiki address that no longer works. The links on this page are current.

Samsung Family Hub four-door refrigerator with a large built-in touchscreen, flanked by two angled screen mockups, under the slide headline 'Your $3,000 Samsung fridge now runs ads.'
Slide with hand-drawn green arrows connecting three statements: Family Hub refrigerators are premium smart appliances with large built-in touchscreens costing between $1,800 and $3,500 in the United States; in April 2025 Samsung EVP Jeong Seung Moon told The Verge Samsung had no plans regarding the inclusion of advertisements on AI Home screens; in September 2025 a software update began pushing advertisements onto the refrigerator screens.
Slide stating that the ads arrived in an over-the-network update owners could not decline without losing smart functionality and that consumer reaction has been negative across social media and technology forums, above a green highlighted line stating that smart devices can be quietly changed after purchase to serve the manufacturer, not you, and a link to consumerrights.wiki.

Originally published as an Instagram carousel on Jun 15, 2026: See Instagram post.

Sources

This entry condenses Samsung ads in refrigerators on consumerrights.wiki.

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