Lorde’s Ubiquitous ‘Royals’ Lands in New Samsung GALAXY Note 3 Commercial

Sixteen-year-old New Zealand pop sensation Lorde is ruling the charts with her No. 1 hit single 'Royals,' but thanks to Samsung's new GALAXY Note 3 commercial, you don't even need to turn on the radio to hear it. 

The ad stars Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi as a mysterious stranger who gets dropped off in a slum and uses his GALAXY Note 3 to let his boss know that 'Project Football' is a go. He then strolls around the soon-to-be-demolished streets while the neighborhood kids spy on him and sing 'Royals.' At the end, the whole block is destroyed, but the kids don't mind, because standing in its place is a brand-new soccer field.

It's a curious way to promote a smartphone, and not just because of the tenuous connection between Samsung and soccer. As anyone who's listened closely to 'Royals' understands, the song is about embracing an ordinary existence rather than chasing after material goals (like, say, a $300 gadget).

"Our lives are super mundane and we're basically in this transition period waiting for something to happen to us," Lorde explained in an interview with the Huffington Post. "As one of the few teenage voices in music that isn't like ... Justin Bieber, I didn't want to glorify that perspective."

According to Samsung, the clip represents "a dramatic retelling of actual projects completed by the Messi Foundation," which seems unlikely, but if it helps draw attention to Messi's charitable works, then all's well that ends well. And at the very least, it's a visually compelling (albeit rather confusing) commercial.