On May 10, Apple responded to the controversial ad for the new iPad Pro. Tor Myhren, Apple's vice president of marketing communications, issued an apology and the company will stop streaming the video.
Recently, Apple released an advertisement for the iPad Pro.
In this one-minute video, a huge, heavy hydraulic press crushes books, musical instruments, paints, dolls and other popular objects into pieces, and then launches Apple's thinnest product ever, the iPad Pro 2024.
Visually, the ad is a powerful allusion to the enormous creative potential of its latest iconic tablet, and to promote the tablet's thinness (5.1mm, the thinnest Apple has ever seen).
In the commercial, the things that are "crushed" are trumpets, paint buckets, guitars, pianos, gramophones, statues, drum kits, cameras, arcade games, monitors, plastic dolls, etc.
However, as a consumer electronics product aimed at professional users, this ad crushed all the "eating guys" of these creators. This strange negative emotion eventually turned from an angry denunciation by a small group of professionals into a storm of public opinion.
Many viewers believe that the commercial is a brutal representation of the history of technology crushing human creativity.
Some netizens ridiculed that Apple is using a symbol of human creativity and cultural achievement to attract professional creators, which is really good.
Some netizens criticized that it was a heartbreaking, uncomfortable and selfish advertisement.
Prominent actor Hugh Grant even commented that the ad seemed to promote the "destruction of the human experience."
Some people believe that such advertising is not good for Apple's image in the current situation of rapid development of AI technology and the possibility of regulators breaking up Apple's App Store.
At the same time, this "thriller" advertisement also directly scared fruit fans. Netizens took to social media @Apple CEO Tim Cook and said:
"It's really the creepiest ad I've ever seen."
"It made me want to sell my iPhone and iPad."
"Compared to the previous ads, it's just a disaster."
"It's uncomfortable for things to be broken. It should be said to be compressed, not crushed. ”
"When I watched it, I had a doubt, for the sake of an advertisement, so many things that can be used normally are crushed like this, is this in line with Apple's environmental protection philosophy?"
"When I watched it, I felt a little uncomfortable, it was too destructive, and it backfired."
In a rare public apology, Apple made a rare public apology and canceled plans to show the ad on television.
Tor Myhren, Apple's vice president of marketing communications, acknowledged in a statement that the ad did not work as expected, and apologized, "We apologize for the fact that this ad video clearly deviated from our original intention." ”
Some netizens made a "reverse version" of this advertisement. Many people said, "It's much more comfortable now."