Apple’s New iPad Ad Sparks Backlash. Here’s Why
Many people on social media called the ad “destructive”.
Tech giant Apple is famous for its products and its stylish and effective marketing strategies and events. However, to promote its new iPad, the company released an ad which is drawing criticism from several internet users and celebrities.
The ad showcases an industrial press crushing several creative objects to birth a new ultra-thin iPad. The “Crush!” advertisement features a variety of items being crushed inside the new iPad Pro, including a record player, a piano, a guitar, an antique TV set, cameras, a typewriter, books, paint cans and tubes, and a vintage arcade gaming machine. The song “All I Ever Need Is You” by Sonny and Cher has been used as the ad’s soundtrack.
Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we’ve ever created, the most advanced display we’ve ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create. pic.twitter.com/6PeGXNoKgG
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 7, 2024
The idea behind the ad is to tell users that their new device allows them to watch TV shows and movies, play games, read books, snap photographs, record videos, and much more in a sleek, thinner-than-ever form factor.
Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote while sharing the ad, “Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we’ve ever created, the most advanced display we’ve ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create.”
However, the advertisement has been regarded as a graphic representation of the tech industry’s devastation of the cultural sectors. Many people on social media called it “destructive” and said that it is “crushing symbols of human creativity and cultural achievements to appeal to pro creators.”
Actor Hugh Grant wrote, “The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley.”
Filmmaker and actor Justine Bateman added, “Truly, what is wrong with you?”
Another person wrote, “It is a heartbreaking, uncomfortable, and egotistic advertisement. When I see this result, I’m ashamed to buy Apple products since nineteen years.”
A user said, “Crushing symbols of human creativity and cultural achievements to appeal to pro creators, nice. Maybe for the next Apple Watch Pro you should crush sports equipment, show a robot running faster than a man, then turn to the camera and say, ‘God is dead and we have killed him'”
“Steve wouldn’t have shipped that ad. It would have pained him too much to watch,” remarked a user.
“This ad effectively convinced me I need less technology in my life,” added another person.
An X user said, “This ad is (unintentional) perfect metaphor for today’s creative dark age: compress organic instruments, joyful/imperfect machines, tangible art, our entire physical reality into a soulless, postmodern, read-only device a multi-trillion $ corporation controls what you do with.”
“1984: Monochome, conformist, industrial world exploded by colourful, vibrant human. 2024: Colourful, vibrant humanity is crushed by monochrome, conformist industrial press,” a user wrote.
