LONDON -- Outside the Apple Store on Regent Street, Apple fans queuing up to get their hands on the new iPhone 6S shivered in the cold September morning light, clutching bright blue blankets reminiscent of the blue T-shirts Apple staff often wear at Apple launches.

Walk along the bedraggled queue of people, and pillows and discarded bottles of water bore the same bright blue color and were emblazoned with the hashtag #NextIsNew.

“They were given to us by Apple,” a person in queue told International Business Times. A friend of his, however, was a little more savvy, quietly informing him: “No man, it was Samsung, I did a little research.”

The blankets, bottles and pillows had been handed out by a dozen or so people wearing blue jackets with the #NextIsNew slogan. When asked where they were from, one representative told IBT they came from a marketing company called Iris and were filming a video about the queue.

When asked who had hired Iris to carry out the work, the representative said he didn’t know. A quick search reveals that Iris is a global marketing company which counts Samsung as a client, having worked with the South Korean brand during London Fashion Week.

Samsung has also previously used the #NextIsNew hashtag when it launched the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+.

While Samsung's effort may have kept the people queuing up warm, hydrated and comfortable, it doesn’t seem to have had any effect online. This is the single tweet related to the hashtag from an Apple fan, who is clearly not impressed:

So. Samsung is trying to win over peple in the apple que for the iPhone 6S, by giving us free stuff. With the stupid #nextisnew... #apple — Arne Leo Bertoia (@arneleobertoia) September 24, 2015

Samsung has, in the past, dubbed Apple fans who queue up for a new device as iSheep, and many of its adverts have centered on this aspect, with the video shot in London this morning potentially forming part of a new campaign. Samsung has yet to respond to a request for comment from IBT.