Apple's new advertisement for the iPad Pro, which depicts the device crushing various creative tools like musical instruments and cameras under a hydraulic press, has sparked widespread criticism and backlash. The ad, intended to showcase the thinness of the new iPad, has been described as tone-deaf and dystopian, with many viewing it as a metaphor for how technology is overpowering human creativity. Critics argue that the ad is out of touch with Apple's traditionally creative-friendly brand image, and it has been unfavorably compared to Apple's iconic 1984 commercial. The negative reception extends across social media and professional critiques, with some suggesting that the ad could alienate Apple's core customer base of creatives.
Vaguely dystopian and weird. Fuzzy message. No real story telling. No bueno. https://t.co/pXQoqDCx0c
Digitization is the burning of the library of Alexandria https://t.co/zSfpybQaWT
It’s a metaphor for how the crushing weight of technological progress has reduced us from a diverse, creative society to a sleek consumptive one https://t.co/vlkjHL5Eag
After reaching a certain size, do megacompanies metastasize to kill the very things they were created out of love for? Asking for a friend… https://t.co/u48BDEVifD
This will get 50k hate quote tweets, the iPad Pro will go on to be a massive seller, and Walter Benjamin will be exhumed to write a long think piece for New Yorker, which most people will read on their IPhone. https://t.co/5jm8IbQV3D
Was Big Tech crushes life out of creativity and joyful things really the message Apple was going for here? https://t.co/gaQTfas4fZ
“.. The dystopian spot, which depicts the relentless destruction of instruments and artworks, marks a dark turn for the company ..” @THR $AAPL #iPad https://t.co/4t5jAi98u0 https://t.co/s3GU5JDmtX
The new iPad ad essentially flips AI-weary creatives the bird https://t.co/2iErlRC6qW
Apple's tone-deaf ad for its new iPad speaks to our broad fears that recent drastic advancements in technology are a grave risk to the joy, authenticity and spontaneity of human creativity, @DaveLeeBBG says https://t.co/GQSyupIp8A
the iPad crushing video is distinctly off-brand for a company that prides itself on understanding the heritage and history of tools it's not just the iPad crushing video though – most of the marketing from Apple's iPad launch was lower caliber and more off-brand than usual
Apple wants to smash human beings, but figured that might be off-putting, so they made an entire ad where they brag about destroying art and music and creativity and everything that makes life unique and interesting and worth living instead. https://t.co/ZjNvFXnUtY
Apple’s Soul-Crushing New Ad: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? https://t.co/nW3pLvl3u5
I showed Google Gemini 1.5 the first part of Apple's "hydraulic press" ad for iPad. I think it kind of nailed it: "The ad could be seen as sending a mixed message or even a negative one, suggesting that the new iPad might lead to the destruction of other valuable things." https://t.co/HoRL44GzMS
Apple's tone-deaf ad for its new iPad speaks to our broad fears that recent drastic advancements in technology are a grave risk to the joy, authenticity and spontaneity of human creativity, @DaveLeeBBG says https://t.co/B8ZeRE6x6t via @opinion
Music fans share backlash as Apple destroys vintage instruments in “tone-deaf”, “ugly and dystopian” new ad for iPad Pro https://t.co/y9Id2h1j1V
Apple's new "Crush!" ad is a riff on a long-popular genre of "oddly satisfying" memes and TikTok videos showing things getting pulverized. When Tim Cook posted the ad to X, he received thousands of outraged complaints. https://t.co/fLXpZRlz7H
People hate this ad because in it creative tools get destroyed and replaced with an iPad - Apple implying you don’t need all those (human) tools to create Everything will be either artisanal (expensive) or commodified (cheap) (Expensive) Did a human make this? Or is it AI?… https://t.co/6UqIImEInU
My thoughts on Apple’s Dystopian iPad Video $AAPL https://t.co/oh2ORNB8Oa
It’s notable that even Apple, a paragon of brand creation and maintenance, is so out of touch with this moment. It’s not 2015. People want human art and no one trusts big tech. https://t.co/Gfxqfe5aCN
Creative nitpick with the bad Apple ad, completely separate its conceptual badness: it clearly should have been a visual stunt where the industrial press is set to crush everything down to a 5.5mm thick block of smoosh, and only the ultra-slim iPad survives unscathed
The tables seem to have turned. Apple did its 1984 ad smashing the computer overlords (IBM). Apple’s new ad could be interpreted as Apple being the dark tech overlord smashing things that many find dear. But it sure got us all talking about Apple! 🍎 https://t.co/vLGKsAl3uA https://t.co/KFIkUufzDY
Apple is getting roasted for its new ad that shows a bunch of musical instruments getting crushed into an iPad. The ad misunderstands the importance of physical tools in the creative process. Brian Eno has a great explainer on the advantage of physical instruments over… https://t.co/YVk134Mt6c
The latest Apple ad fail (a hydraulic press smashing beloved cultural artifacts and suggesting they can somehow be substituted with a tablet) is the second example in a year of a company appearing to fall out of touch with its customers. The other one that comes to mind is…
Besides the dystopian symbolism of literally crushing creative tools under an industrial press to produce a uniformized, sanitized "product", it feels really uncomfortable to watch perfectly good instruments getting destroyed. Hopefully that was all CG. https://t.co/ptJcy1TqOY
I'm really surprised that Apple is running this ad. It highlights, in viscerally compelling video, the misgivings many people have about digitizing everything. https://t.co/HTTBP7rNGV
I absolutely love this ad Apple just totally owning its role as arch-leveler — flattening all of human experience into a screen, Total Screen, destroying books, music, art — everything uniquely human — until finally it explodes a head and its eyes pop out. Reminds me of P… https://t.co/P2B9eG6En1
Hard to believe an ad agency could have come up with such an ill-conceived idea. "To show how thin the iPad is, we're going to show it crushing all the cool stuff that humans make!" https://t.co/JMBGsDiwdk
Apple: "let's literally crush all that is wonderful about human artistic creation." https://t.co/L7ir3KKxtx
Apple: let's literally crush all that is wonderful about human artistic creation. https://t.co/2nFBnPRamy
Apple's iPad ad literally crushes all the things we hold dear — and it's making people sad and mad https://t.co/ht6MV5yQcR
Are we really surprised Apple released an ad where they crushed creativity into one sleek package? https://t.co/AWmmZ7cf2o
This ad makes me sad. Apple has completely lost touch with creators and just became yet another tech monolith. https://t.co/HRe3OAqSSI
“That new iPad ad is the most anti-creativity and anti-human thing I have ever seen” - Area man who spends his time defending AI
I really can’t imagine no one at Apple saw the metaphor in this video of crushing the existing physical tools and ecosystem for human creativity (and so link to soulless #AI). Which makes it doubly weird they went with this ad/product, as no one cares about thinness anymore https://t.co/YpKAuW6uko
Apple, 2012 called and wants its commercial back. We no longer trust you & other tech co's not to *literally* crush art and things that bring humans joy. And obsession with thinness was cute once but with everything else going on, it now sounds like an eating disorder. Get help https://t.co/G2fLwcsphu
Creatives dub Apple's new iPad promo—where art and cultural materials are crushed to a pulp—as 'genuinely dystopian' and 'catastrophically awful.' https://t.co/b3s94iHCMQ
Apple ‘Crush!’ ad touting new iPad Pro draws ire https://t.co/jLGtGs55ml by David Snow
Apple's new ad met with widespread disgust and resentment over 'dystopian' messaging https://t.co/cIS4ByabmA https://t.co/RCNeMeVOro
Steve Jobs had reverence for creatives and he understood symbolism. Here we see beautiful, classic objects being crushed to smithereens and being replaced with a digital device. It's uncomfortable to watch and it reminds me how powerless we are to stop digital tech taking over… https://t.co/MlRWTb3fYB
Steve Jobs had reverence for creatives and he understood symbolism. Here we see beautiful, classic objects being crushed to smithereens and being replaced with a digital device. There is no way this ad would have been approved under Steve... https://t.co/MlRWTb3fYB
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single commercial offend and turn off a core customer base as much as this iPad spot. Achieves the opposite of their legendary 1984 spot. It’s not even that it’s boring or banal. It makes me feel… bad? Bummed out?
Ooof I'm not sure who thought this ad was a good idea. Let's show all these wonderful tools we use to be creative and human and then smash them up and reduce everything to a screen. Lovely. Job done. https://t.co/IxUUgBv2CI
can't believe Apple ran such an out of touch commercial that treats devices Steve Jobs would have cherished as trash https://t.co/BSk7QihI1w
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 https://t.co/mxtfOKloYV
This ad perfectly encapsulates the insight that people think technology is killing everything we ever found joy in. And then presents that as a good thing. I haven't seen such a visceral backlash to a spot in a long time. https://t.co/QWIHwPWgJ4
Let it be known that I love Apple products but the optics of this ad, which depicts crushing the products of human creativity under an industrial hydraulic press, speaks volumes about the dearth of imagination at the company right now. https://t.co/CCmtQUk9P7
This iPad ad is just so wildly narcissistic and tone deaf. Celebrating creativity by literally destroying every symbolic creative tool “You won’t need these anymore, you only need me.” Seems like a good metaphor for the state of the tech industry these days https://t.co/UKOlvezgeC
wow this is a terrible ad. the symbolism of crushing creative equipment, almost in a comedic/dark way, to make place for a soulless product. dystopian https://t.co/LNWjjgro0t
Apple is being slammed for producing a commercial for the new iPad which shows a huge version of the device crushing creative tools such as musical instruments, paint and cameras in a giant vice. https://t.co/lCeoHfu3uj
Apple: a giant chromed steel obelisk slowly crushes all symbols of culture and a rich creative life, with a final gasp of revulsion, it is all reduced to nothing - and we are left with a little magazine sized glass tablet of lightweight mediocrity 👍
Apple's introduction of new iPads on Tuesday will spur sales, but the mass appeal of the tablet will remain sorely lacking until the company removes the artificial constraints and creates a genuinely portable computer, @DaveLeeBBG says https://t.co/4oPgaAWWWh via @opinion