Apple has apologised after extensive criticism was directed at an advertisement which showed an industrial press crushing artistic and creative items, only to be replaced by their latest iPad.
Posted by Apple CEO, Tim Cook on X, the minute-long video was condemned by thousands of social media users, who took issue with the destruction of creative equipment and the message it sent to the artistic community.
I’m not sure ‘wanton destruction of all the good and beautiful things is this world’ was really the vibe you were trying for.
— Judd Baroff (@JuddBaroff) May 7, 2024
The tech giant has announced its decision not to broadcast the ad on television as was initially planned.
“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Apple’s Vice President of Marketing, Tor Myhren told AdAge.
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad,” he said, adding, “we missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry”.
The short movie, titled ‘Crush’, saw a number of artistic and creative elements such as a guitar, cameras, paint cans and more squeezed to explosion between the plates of an enormous press, which then part to reveal Apple’s lates iPad, the iPad Pro.
“The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” British actor Hugh Grant wrote on X in response to Mr Cook’s tweet, while Hollywood director Reed Morano the Apple CEO to “read the room”.
The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley. https://t.co/273XB3CfnF
— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) May 8, 2024