Highlights

• Apple pulls the “Crush” ad for the new iPad Pro featuring OLED displays and M4 chips.
• The ad showed creative tools being crushed, offending many in the creative community.
• Prominent creatives like Hugh Grant criticized the ad for being insensitive.
• Apple issues an apology and removes the ad from TV, though it remains online.

Apple has just released its new, very upgraded iPad Pro models with OLED displays and a powerful M4 chip.

To promote those tablets, Apple released an ad that rubbed the creative community the wrong way.

The ad, titled “Crush,” shows different creative tools—guitars, pianos, and pieces of art—getting crushed by a hydraulic press.

Apple’s Ad Rubs Creators the Wrong Way

The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley. https://t.co/273XB3CfnF

— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) May 8, 2024

The idea was to suggest the iPad Pro can replace those traditional creative mediums.

Many artists and creators took offense to their tools being destroyed in such a manner.

Since the new iPad Pro tablets use OLED screens rather than LCD screens, there is no need for a backlight, and Apple could make the thinnest product it has ever built.

The 11-inch iPad Pro comes in at 5.3mm, while the larger 13-inch is an even more svelte 5.1mm.

Hey @tim_cook READ THE ROOM, BRO. CUZ THIS SHIT IS ACTUALLY PSYCHOTIC https://t.co/emRqOcXDoP

— Reed Morano, A.S.C. (@reedmorano) May 8, 2024

Famous creatives such as actor Hugh Grant and director Reed Morano openly criticized the ad for being insensitive to artists.

The backlash made it clear Apple’s marketing missed the mark with the target audience.

In response, Apple has issued an apology.

The company’s VP of marketing Tor Myhren admitted they “missed the mark with this video” and that the goal is always to empower and celebrate creativity through the iPad.

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

Despite the apology, Apple has decided to pull the controversial ad from TV broadcasts.

Here’s his full statement:

“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world. Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”

There’s no denying that the iPad Pro is highly capable.

However, its promotion, as evidenced by outrage on social media, alienated the very creatives it wanted to appeal to.

Apple usually is spot on with is marketing but looks like going ahead it might want to re-evaluate its marketing strategies through more dialogue with the creative community.

The other side of the coin is that people are reading too much into what was a harmless ad.

Apple CEO Tim Cook shared the ad on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube on Tuesday.

According to Ad Age, the spot is still available online but will not be broadcast on TV.

Producer Asif Kapadia pointed out how tech giants often benefit from artists’ work without giving them fair compensation. “Like iPads but don’t know why anyone thought this ad was a good idea. It is the most honest metaphor for what tech companies do to the arts, to artists, musicians, creators, writers, filmmakers: squeeze them, use them, not pay well, take everything then say it’s all created by them,” he posted on X.

In a story for THR, senior features editor Julian Sancton agreed with those sentiments.

“Indeed, at a time of bipartisan skepticism about tech and its destructive effects on society — and, in the case of generative AI, its callous disregard for human creators — it seems designed to offend as many people as possible,” Sancton wrote about the ad.

Sancton added: “All of that destruction, it seems, is meant to promote the release of … a new, extra thin iPad, revealed when the clamps open back up. You can imagine the pitch: ‘All of human creation compressed into one impossibly sleek tablet.’ But the end result feels more like: ‘All of human creation sacrificed for a lifeless gadget.’”

“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,” Cook wrote.

“I can’t relate to this video at all. It lacks any respect for creative equipment and mocks the creators,” wrote one person.

Posted another: “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.’”

“It is a heartbreaking, uncomfortable, and egotistic advertisement. When I see this result, I’m ashamed to buy Apple products since nineteen years,” wrote another.

FAQs

What was the theme of the controversial Apple ad?

The ad, titled “Crush,” depicted various artistic tools like guitars and pianos being crushed, suggesting that the iPad Pro could replace them.

Why did Apple decide to pull the iPad Pro advertisement from TV?

Following significant backlash from the creative community, who felt the ad was insensitive to traditional creative mediums, Apple decided to pull the advertisement from television broadcasts.

Who are some notable figures that reacted negatively to the Apple ad?

Hugh Grant and director Reed Morano are among the creatives who voiced their displeasure, viewing the ad as disrespectful to artistic tools.

What was Apple’s response to the backlash over their advertisement?

Apple’s VP of marketing, Tor Myhren, issued an apology acknowledging that the ad missed the mark and emphasizing Apple’s intent to celebrate and empower creativity.

Where can the Apple “Crush” ad still be viewed?

Despite being pulled from TV, the ad remains available on online platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.

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