Apple issued an apology on Thursday for “missing the mark” with its latest commercial for the iPad after it drew near-instant criticism from customers. The ad, entitled “Crush,” was meant to showcase the iPad Pro’s potential for “empowering creatives around the world”—but to many, the video’s “wanton destruction” sent precisely the opposite message.
“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,” Apple CEO Tim Cook boasted in an X post on Tuesday. “Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create.”
The accompanying video, set to the upbeat tune of Sonny & Cher’s “All I Need is You,” showed a myriad of creative objects—various instruments, an arcade game, a marble bust, buckets of paint, and more—meeting an explosive end in a high-powered hydraulic press. When the press opens again, the items have all been transformed into the new iPad Pro, showing off the device’s creative potential.
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
However, in the 48 hours after the ad was released, general audiences were less than impressed with the message behind it. Social media users quickly took issue with the idea that symbols of human creativity can be so casually reduced to a single digital device.
“I’m not sure ‘wanton destruction of all the good and beautiful things is this world’ was really the vibe you were trying for,” one user wrote.
“I can’t relate to this video at all. It lacks any respect for creative equipment and mocks the creators,” another added.
“You destroyed all the creative tools and effort of humans. Worst. Commercial. Ever,” wrote a third.
The video also failed to resonate with commentators and culture critics—all of whom expressed discomfort with technology quite literally squeezing the life out of mankind’s creative endeavors.
Still others pointed out that the iPad commercial seemed to have pulled the concept directly from an LG phone ad from 2008.
LG phone ad from 2008 (BBH London) pic.twitter.com/cWIDZx1d4a
— Andy Allen (@asallen) May 9, 2024
After the wave of backlash, Apple executives put out a statement to apologize to customers.
“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 Marketing Communications VP Tor Myhren said in a statement to Ad Age. “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.”
While the ad remains on the company’s YouTube channel, plans to air it on TV stations have reportedly been scrapped.
The new iPad Pro will be available for $999 on May 15th.
