{"id":43185,"date":"2024-05-10T14:21:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T18:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=43185"},"modified":"2025-06-24T23:08:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T03:08:23","slug":"apple-apologizes-for-ipad-crush-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/10\/apple-apologizes-for-ipad-crush-ad\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Apologizes for iPad “Crush” Ad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emma Roth<\/a> (Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Apple has apologized after a commercial meant to showcase its brand-new iPad Pro<\/a> drew widespread criticism among the creative community. In a statement provided to Ad Age<\/em><\/a>, Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice president of marketing, said the company “missed the mark.”<\/p>

“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Myhren told Ad Age<\/em>. “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.”<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

The ad rubbed some creatives the wrong way. Hugh Grant called it<\/a> a “destruction of human experience,” while Handmaid’s Tale<\/em> director Reed Morano told Apple CEO<\/a> Tim Cook to “read the room” in a post on X.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I said<\/a>, I didn’t care for the ad, and the replies to Tim Cook on Twitter<\/a> were almost entirely negative, but I’m still surprised that Apple thought it necessary to apologize. I would have preferred an acknowledgment of the widespread Apple ID issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

John Gruber<\/a> (Mastodon<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\n

Would this exact same commercial have evoked the same collective response in 2010? I’m going to say no, it would not have. What about in 2018? I’m going to say ... probably not? Something has changed. Part of it is that our culture has changed. I don’t think many people 10 or 15 years ago would have seen dissonance between Apple’s oft-professed sustainability ideals and a commercial celebrating the destruction of artistic tools and objects. And the bigger change is the recognition that computers are eating the world. In 2010 it was seen only as cool that computers were doing more and more stuff. Today there’s widespread uncomfortableness, perhaps outright concern, that the digital world is consuming the analog one. It plays differently today than a decade ago to emphasize that an iPad can replace a veritable truck-full of artistic tools and toys.<\/p>\n

But part too is that Apple’s position in our culture has changed. They’re no longer, and never again will be, the upstart. They’re The Man now. They’re part of the firmament of our entire society, not just the tech world.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Andy Allen<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

LG phone ad from 2008 (BBH London)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Uli Kusterer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

You’re telling me that not only did Apple decided to run<\/em> this stupid “crushing it” commercial, they ripped off an old LG ad ???<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

See also:<\/p>\n