Apple is getting slammed, & rightfully so, for their stupid & insensitive ad for the new iPad Pro - UPDATE w/articles

[highplainsdem]

Last edited Wed May 8, 2024, 06:24 PM - Edit history (1)

I've added a list of articles about how disastrous this ad was to the end of the OP.

Link to tweet

Some of the replies to Tim Cook's post with the video:

I’m not sure ‘wanton destruction of all the good and beautiful things is this world’ was really the vibe you were trying for.


I'm a creator, a traditional artist, a macintosh user of many years, yet I never even understand why would I need an iPad, and this destruction is extremely distasteful and would never convince me but otherwise.


Forty years ago, Apple released the 1984 commercial as a bold statement against a dystopian future. Now you are that dystopian future. Congratulations.


That looks like an advertisement made by Nazis who promoted the destruction of culture.


Tim, your advert has offended so many artists around the world who see the beautiful objects of their trade history being destroyed. You've really misjudged who your market is. I won't be buying @Apple again. Pull the ad and issue an apology.


I ask this as a loyal Apple customer since the late 80s:

What the hell is WRONG with you???

That was extremely painful to watch. Every single second.

I really cannot get my head around how you or anyone thought this was wise — and not incredibly disrespectful and dismissive to every artist, designer, musician and creative person of any kind.


Steve Jobs NEVER would have approved this ad.


This is the worst ad I have ever seen. How someone thought the message behind this was a good idea is beyond me. Crush all creative spirit and out comes a screen? A big blob of nothingness? And look how thin it is - wow, such innovation. Seriously dystopian.



I think the only right thing to do now is put your marketing executive inside the iPad.. if you know what I mean.



That last one has almost 70 likes at the moment.

There are several thousand replies on Twitter already, in 27 hours. I can't begin to read, let alone copy, all of them. Almost all are in agreement with the replies above.


EDITING to update this, since so many here don't seem able to understand it, and maybe these articles will help:

Apple’s Soul-Crushing New Ad: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? (The Hollywood Reporter)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/apple-soul-crushing-new-ipad-ad-dystopian-1235893898/

Apple faces backlash for 'destructive' iPad ad featuring machine crushing books and instruments (NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/apple-backlash-new-ipad-pro-ad-rcna151236

Apple's hydraulic-press iPad ad ticks off creators (Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/08/apple-ipad-2024-ad-ai-outrage

Apple’s Crushing iPad Ad Trashed By Hugh Grant, Justine Bateman & Almost Everyone Else (Deadline)
https://deadline.com/2024/05/ipad-ad-backlash-crushinghugh-grant-justine-bateman-1235909002/

People sure are pressed about Apple’s crushing iPad commercial (The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/8/24152236/apple-ipad-pro-commercial-artists-ai

Apple’s Tone-Deaf iPad Ad Triggers Our Darkest AI Fears (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-05-08/apple-puts-out-new-ipad-ad-triggering-ai-fears

The new iPad ad essentially flips AI-weary creatives the bird (Mashable)
https://mashable.com/article/crush-ipad-commercial

[hlthe2b]

1. Damn. So much for sustainability, social justice, and everything Apple supposedly (yeah, I know) was

founded on.

Despicable.

[emulatorloo]

62. Nah, just typical twitter pointless posturing and malarkey.

[hlthe2b]

64. I am referencing the ad itself. Not any hype or "sales spew" behind it.

[emulatorloo]

71. Oh please. It's just light hearted ad. "An iPad Pro is like having all these creative tools in a slim tablet."

If you don’t want it, don’t buy one. No need for OTT malarkey.

[hlthe2b]

72. Oh please. No need for this. I respect your opinion and you can (at a minimum) not attack me for mine.

I am on my sixth Iphone, 3rd Ipad and lots of other Apple items before you assume I'm a disgruntled non-Apple consumer. I am not. But I likewise do not feel GOOD about the planned obsolescence we have created and the smashing of all manner of objects that the IPAD is somehow supposed to replace (and can NOT) only underscores that.

[emulatorloo]

76. I am a big supporter of you and your posts. Not attacking you or making any assumptions.

I just don’t get the ponderous response of the OP or the comments section, seems unwarranted for what is at worst a silly ad.

I was almost expecting to see an Apple endorsement of Hitler and Trump after reading the hyped up title of the OP.

[hlthe2b]

81. Back at you, emulatorloo. I added some to my previous post that might make more sense--at least

from my POV. The ad triggers some guilt, frankly, to our all too frequent urge to replace, upgrade, and waste, that I admittedly have been guilty of myself. Others might be feeling this too. EarlG likewise had a good take on why people might be objecting as well down the thread.

[emulatorloo]

85. Having just replaced a 2013 Mac w a 2023 Mac I tend to avoid the replace, upgrade, waste cycle.

As much as possible. For what it is worth being an Apple user helps as they tend to support older hardware longer than most other manufacturers!

Right back at you too -

Thanks for referring me to EarlG’s post, appreciate it!

[hlthe2b]

94. Yeah. I do that with cars. Knock on wood for the continued life of my 2007 Prius hybrid....

[emulatorloo]

99. Yay! Same w my 2011 Ford! So far so good.

[highplainsdem]

106. The anger is coming from a lot of professional artists and advocates for real art. Names I recognize after

following the debate on Twitter in recent months. It's much more intense than you can understand unless you follow it.

Since DUers typically stand up for workers not to be exploited and destroyed by corporations, I've been very disappointed by some of the responses here. It's an existential threat to artists and writers. Actors and screenwriters made that clear with their strikes last year, and DU stood with them.

[emulatorloo]

113. Semi pro singer and wannabe songwriter here. Retired graphic artist/video maker. Opposed to AI but thankful

for elegantly designed technological artistic tools.

[PatSeg]

2. Yeah, that's pretty brutal

I like the music though.


Edit to add the YouTube version of the video for those who do not wish to go to Twitter/X:

[Goodheart]

41. Do some people scour the internet for things to get offended by?

I'm not seeing any actual cause for offense.

[JoseBalow]

89. How dare you!

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

107. Yeah...

... I was seriously hoping that the two "eyeballs", would be protruding from between the two slabs at the end. So yeah, you might say I was a little disappointed by the ad.

[BannonsLiver]

3. Is this what constitutes offensive these days?

[Scarlet Begalas]

4. Apple iPod Pro

Yeah, I was wondering that myself, because I don't see it as awful.

[PatSeg]

9. I guess it depends on one's perspective

From especially an artist's point of view, it can be seen as overwhelming, mindless destruction. It also has an unsettling dystopian feel to it.

[BannonsLiver]

22. So did their 1984 ad for the Mac.

[Caliman73]

42. Except the 1984 ad showed the dystopia BEFORE the mac arrived on scene.

The Mac was the answer to the dreary future.

This ad is saying, all of the tools that creative people are using now are worthless and replaceable by this machine.

I didn't find it as horrible as others, but then I do not make my life's work creating art. I can see how artists would be offended.

[PatSeg]

45. Exactly, thanks

[Emrys]

116. Having been heavily involved in making music involving computers in that period,

and having had to put up with Apple fanboys on various forums telling us all ad nauseam how Apple was a strike back against corporatism etc. and would set people's creativity free, while they were willingly trapping themselves in and enticing others into an overpriced and deliberately restricted infrastructure that was the epitome of centralized control but had snazzy production values if not always quality control ones, and a certain undeserved and unearned outsider/rebel cachet, I can tell you for many of us that "1984" ad looked more like Apple predicting the future if it prevailed in the marketplace, rather than the more open platforms that did eventually take us forward a little closer to the promised land.

[emulatorloo]

124. And yet you survived to tell the tale!

[Emrys]

125. Not without scars

The Mac vs PC wars were long and bloody. They're probably still going on somewhere on the intertubes.

[emulatorloo]

127. I always thought platform wars were dumb. Use what you want and let others use what they want!

It mostly seems to be over happily.

[Emrys]

133. I have seen people (almost always guys) get extremely heated at each other about all sorts of issues on the internet

The only issue where I've ever seen two guys fix up to meet up in a car park somewhere equidistant from their physical locations to sort things out mano a mano is over Mac vs. PC.

[Caliman73]

148. No doubt.

My analysis was primarily about the difference in the marketing approach and/or impact. The 1984 commercial was ostensibly about "freeing yourself" from the dreary future of computing (presumably under Microsoft). Obviously the main goal of any add is to sell product and the overall goal for any company is to become the dominant company in the market. It certainly isn't to give the consumer "freedom" or the ultimate experience. Money is the goal.

Now that Apple is dominant within its market, the apparent goal of the marketing is to tell the consumer, "You can get all your wonderful, creativity needs and desires met in this one sleek, thin device." It came off to some as, "We are going to destroy old, outdated, and obsolete means of creative expression". They aren't looking to "free" anyone. They are looking to consolidate and keep their market dominance.

[PatSeg]

46. What Caliman73 said

[brush]

157. I dunno. I'm a retired art director who now paints. IMO it's an ad with a comical twist on things created then...

Last edited Thu May 9, 2024, 02:43 PM - Edit history (1)

dismantled during the course of the ad, not in any way intentionally or non-intentionally meant to be representative of or a comment on a coming dystopian society.

Come on, who do you thing created that ad?

ARTISTS did.

[PatSeg]

162. I suppose

It was just a bit unsettling for me and apparently a lot of people. As I said in another comment, it is hardly worth this much time and energy though and it will probably be forgotten in another day or two.

Meanwhile, Apple got attention about a new product, which was the purpose of the ad.

[claudette]

10. How does

destroying good things sell a product?

[BannonsLiver]

18. I don't know, I'm not in marketing nor am I in a rush to get my hackles up over a TV ad.

[claudette]

24. Its just an

opinion about a violent ad . No hackles involved.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

34. I get how there was an unintended message

but this is about how you can fit all of those things in the very thin new iPad.

Kind of like how I can fit thousands of books in my Kindle. Doesn't mean the books are bad.

But, yeah, they had a weird subtext to the ad that I don't think was their intent.

[RobinA]

149. It's One Of Those

situations where the people involved in making and approving the ad are unable to see the ad the way many uninvolved viewers will. I get where they're going, but they have one track minds on the subject. Me, I look at it and see technology as crushing everything in its path. Which is actually the way I see the world right now. They maybe needed to run it by some uninterested bystanders to learn what the person on the street sees. This ad will go away. You don't sell a product by crushing David in your ad.

[jimfields33]

11. It was a very effective and true commercial

I’m thinking some may be against progress. Not a surprise. People dislike change. Get used to it. All those things can be done on a thin IPad. Life goes on. Some want the world to stay in the 1950’s.

[PatSeg]

49. But the problem is

there are plenty of artistic things that can be done with those destroyed tools that their iPad cannot really do. Promoting the iPad Pro as a useful tool is one thing, but it is not a replacement for all that was destroyed in their ad.

I love most technology and I don't want to go backwards, but I certainly don't want to throw away all the other resources that I use. For me it would be my cameras or my pastels. For someone else it might be their piano or modeling clay.

Not everything that looks like progress is necessarily progress.

[jimfields33]

51. I doubt anyone will take away anybody's artistic supplies.

The commercial just showed the possibility of getting the new IPad. I think it’s being misunderstood.

[PatSeg]

55. I mentioned in another comment

that it is possible that Apple meant to cause a controversy with that ad. That way the video would get commented on and reposted on social media. Now more people know there is a new iPad in town!

[dpibel]

111. "just showed the possibility of getting the new IPad"

Dude, you get funnier by the day.

[tapper]

140. "Analog" still necessary...

I also felt discomfited by the ad — it felt like it was saying that one doesn’t need all those physical things if you get an iPad.

Which is ridiculous. Is the jazz trumpeter going to give up his trumpet? Sure, the iPad can help get a newly recorded track ready for release, but can it replace a live performance?

Or take my craft — weaving. Sure, iPad can help design the pattern, but the actual product requires physical yarns and looms, and physical effort. (Okay, there are super expensive looms that can be controlled by a computer, but, if I’m not mistaken, one still has to physically put the yarn on the loom…)

The iPad is a wondrous tool, but it’s not a be-all, end-all device.

Viva the physical!

[PatSeg]

141. Well said

It certainly can be an asset, but hardly a replacement for all the things that they crushed in the ad.

The more I think about it, the dumber that ad seems. It did spark conversation though and in the process it drew attention to their newest iPad. Maybe that was their intention.

[brooklynite]

144. SO you can disagree with the message; explain the need to be offended.

[PatSeg]

147. No, that's okay

It is not worth this much energy.

It is only an ad and it will affect different people in various ways. There are far more important issues to focus on and I'm not likely to ever buy an Apple product anyway. In a couple days, we will have forgotten about it.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

36. We agree on this.

It's a weird subtext that they should have caught in focus groups (that it looks like they are destroying art), but it's just about fitting all those things in an iPad. Kind of like how I don't need a calculator, rolodex, etc. when I have my phone. Certainly now worth the "I'm a loyal customer but I'm never buying Apple again" reaction.

I thought it was going to be an ad talking about how great AI was at creating art given the reaction.

[RobinA]

150. The Problem Is

that you don't see the "fitting everything into an iPad" part until after you've watched it destroy all the good things. By then many people have formed a less than favorable opinion. It literally demonstrates technology destroying everything but itself.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

159. It has always been offensive. I love The Who's music, but despise instrument destruction. . . nt

[Hekate]

5. I've been an Apple user since the first "pizza box" was put in my desk, & am now retired to an iPad

I just feel gobsmacked by this insane ad.

[Auggie]

6. How much of it is CGI?

[Arthur_Frain]

15. This was my point.

It isn't insensitive at all, it's just maybe not your cup of tea. When I was an irrational child I may have been offended at the sight of a guitar getting crushed, but even then, the entire commercial is CGI. Is that even Cher singing? or an AI likeness she's approved and they're paying for?

[John1956PA]

47. The audio recording is the title track to a 1971 Sonny & Cher album.

To my ear, the audio recording sounds the same as the 1971 track did when I first heard it when it was released that year. It has been decades since I heard it. I appreciate that recording.

[spooky3]

54. I admire Cher as an actor and person

But hate listening to her sing. Unfortunately it fits with the rest of the awful ad.

Have owned Apple products since 1984 and have Apple stock. I am a huge fan of Apple but this ad is the worst.

[JoseBalow]

96. You are not alone

(0:26)

[spooky3]

130. Hee hee nt

[John1956PA]

17. As I watched it for my first and only time, I wondered, too, about the percentage of CGI content.

Nonetheless, the imagery, be it real destruction or CGI, turns me off. However, I have always liked the song "All I Ever Need Is You."

[claudette]

7. A great reason

for me NOT to buy it. So ugly and distressing of an ad

[MagickMuffin]

8. Now, How do we know all those responses aren't bots?

Hmmmmm!

I didn’t see anything wrong with the ad.

Out of chaos, comes a new creation!

[PatSeg]

12. I didn't really see chaos

This one comment said it quite well:

Many craftsmen value their tools.
Musicians value their instruments, architects value their rulers, painters value their brushes and painting materials more than life itself. The video you presented “all in one”, but it will only disgust them. They may never want to engage with your company again.

Your predecessors showed us their dreams, you showed us our nightmares.


Apple posted it on YouTube as well, but they turned off comments.

[MagickMuffin]

20. As an artist myself in various mediums I am not offended

Do you really believe an ad such as this one prevents artists from the products they use for their work?

It’s an ad, it isn’t as though the last musical instruments, paint, or any of the other things being “destroyed” it’s an ad. Nothing less nothing more.

I’d be buying myself an iPad Pro if I could afford one.

[PatSeg]

26. No, I just think it was in poor taste

and had a disturbing dystopian feel to it.

That said, I've never owned an Apple product and have no desire to own one.

[we can do it]

50. Art is supposed to bring strong feelings.

[PatSeg]

53. You know, this ad seems to have done that

Though I wouldn't attribute it to "art". However, maybe its intention WAS to offend people enough that they would talk about the video and repost it on social media. So now more people know there is a new iPad in town!

Sometimes controversy is an effective form of advertising.

[JohnnyRingo]

70. But they SQUISHED a smiley!

And people go bananas.

[MagickMuffin]

79. Until their eyes popped out

Oh the humanity!

[Bristlecone]

13. Maybe they are suggesting that they compress all of these great things into a tiny package.

That’s what I take away from it. Nothing more.

[PatSeg]

27. I think that was what they were going for

but a lot of people apparently saw it differently. Perhaps they just went too far.

[Warpy]

108. They missed and rather badly

Now getting all these devices to swirl and get sucked into the Object You Need Now might have been more indicative of the point. Having them shatter into a million pieces with rising dust did not. That just said "take a sledge hammer to all the pieces o crap we sold you in the past and buy a new one!"

I can understand the poutrage, this just seems stupidly wasteful and besides, people love their own pieces of stuff.

It's tone deaf.

[PatSeg]

118. Yes, I agree it was tone deaf

They don't live in the real world and probably don't even realize it was tone deaf.

[NBachers]

14. Someone's great idea

[Gore1FL]

16. I get the point they were trying to make; they made it poorly.

It would have worked better had they shown all of these large devices fitting into the super flat tablet rather than getting crushed to create it.

I don't find it offensive; it's certainly not so off-putting that I'd never buy an Apple product over it. But, it was a stupid commercial.

[PatSeg]

35. Yes, I think they could have made their point

much better. It is clever, but I don't think it achieved what they were going for.

The eye-popping "surprise" smiley was especially cringe-worthy - "I know, let's take a cute, wide-eyed smiley and crush it until its eyes pop out of its head!" Though for me seeing those beautiful cameras being crushed gave me chills. I suppose a guitar player or pianist might feel the same seeing their instruments of choice being destroyed to promote an iPad Pro.

[peggysue2]

142. That's it exactly

Poorly conceived and completely insensitive to the creative community already on high-alert over AI intrusion into the artistic sphere.

I expect better from Apple. This was an unnecessary Bigfoot approach.

[EarlG]

21. Wow, what a screw up

It's certainly an amazing metaphor for how big tech companies have created AI so they can steal human artistic endeavors, smash them to a pulp, and then sell the meaningless slop back to us on screens.

What's really amazing is how big tech companies have their heads so far up their own asses that they think this should be marketed to people as a positive development.

[highplainsdem]

31. They have entirely too many customers using their GenAI who are not only imagining that using it somehow

makes them real artists and writers (it doesn't when AI is following algorithms unaware through all the work the AI companies stole), but are actively ridiculing and attacking the real artists who object to their work being stolen.

I always knew there was a pathetic subset of people who didn't just envy but also resented creative people who had worked hard to develop their talent. Those people now both want to be viewed as equally talented artists for just giving a prompt to AI, and want all real artists' rights to their own creations to be dismissed as an obstacle to what the fake artists see as "progress." They don't want regulations and lawsuits to get in the way of AI companies stealing all the intellectual property they can.

I've been stunned by how nasty many of the AI artists online are. And their willingness to turn on real artists is something I've seen industry shills online exploiting.

[LisaM]

33. It bothers me, too.

Apple has built its brand on obsolescence. And will continue to do so.

Clearly this bothers some people more than others, but count me in the "bothered" camp.

[PatSeg]

40. Same here

I generally love technology, but I hate what I see it doing to society, especially younger generations.

[emulatorloo]

68. Still using a Mac from 2011 and 2013.

[PatSeg]

39. Really?

I haven't interacted with an AI "artists" online. I can't believe they consider themselves actual artists. That is really disturbing.

We can't evolve as a species if all we end up doing is regurgitating the same creativity over and over again. The day could come when there actually is nothing new or original anymore.

[emulatorloo]

82. As far as I am aware, Apple doesn't have a generative AI app. Are you thinking of Adobe?

[highplainsdem]

93. I was talking, as EarlG was, about AI companies in general. But if you google

apple generative ai

you'll find a lot on how they're rushing to add AI to as much as possible.

They're pushing generative AI as the Trend of the Year on their App store

https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1718535089

and the iPad Pro unveiling was a teaser for more AI features to be introduced next month:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-ipad-event-was-an-ai-teaser-for-its-future-184058075.html

[emulatorloo]

100. Thanks!

[PatSeg]

38. Well said

I'm trying to imagine what they saw when they watched that ad. It really looks more like satire for an AI takeover of society than an ad for a tablet.

[emulatorloo]

91. I don't see this ad as promoting AI at all. More like you can have a creative studio to make art

that replaces the big bulky expensive filmmaking, recording and visual arts gear you used to need.

We don’t see the iPad ‘generating’ art at all.

The ad actually reminds me somewhat of the marketing Apple did during the time of the desktop publishing revolution. As in you don’t need typesetting and a professional printing press to publish professional looking publications; all you need is a mac and a laser jet.

[EarlG]

101. We're seeing the same thing but from different perspectives

I get that the idea of the ad is that Apple wants you to think that you can replace your old gear with an iPad. But just the fact that Apple thinks it can replace say, a guitar with an iPad, is itself pretty arrogant and tone-deaf.

There's nothing at all wrong with using technology to enhance art. Years ago I worked in recording studios with tape machines, and it's a damn sight easier to record digitally than it is on tape. And I'm a huge fan of electronic music.

But you can't just replace a guitar with an iPad. So the concept of trying to sell the iPad to artists by showing the tools of their trade being crushed and replaced is, let's say... unattractive.

[emulatorloo]

110. I get it...also worked in a recording studio.

True that an iPad can’t replace a real guitar, but I think that is more of a reference to their Garageband and Logic recording apps (which do include some built in virtual instruments.) Those apps do require user agency at least for now.

(I will say that VI guitars are useful for songwriters who can’t play a real guitar to get ideas down for a songwriting demo or to show their bandmates how they would like a part played.)

I did update my post to you comparing this ad to marketing Apple did during the desktop publishing revolution. Hopefully that will clarify what I was trying to say.

[EarlG]

135. I hear ya

And don't get me wrong -- again, I'm absolutely not opposed to the use of technology in art. I guess there's just something about this particular ad that hit me in the wrong way. I wouldn't go so far as to say the ad "offends" me, but it definitely seems that there's something about it which strikes the wrong chord (if you'll pardon the expression) for some people. YMMV!

[emulatorloo]

136. Love the pun!

[ProfessorGAC]

23. Not Sharing The Angst

I don't see anything discouraging creativity.
The commercial takes too long to make its point, but that's a different criticism.

[Crunchy Frog]

25. I have an old, (really old) iPad Mini,

and will never, ever purchase another Apple product again.

I came extremely close to permanent loss of a number of pictures, videos, and audios of my sons when they were very young, all in the name of "protecting my security". From myself.

It kicked me off spontaneously when I was using it while my computer was down, and it wanted a username and password that I had no idea what they were or how I could recover them, never having used them since setting it up 10+ years earlier. And no real options that wouldn't involve permanently wiping everything off it.

I don't need that level of security, and I've never had those sorts of issues with regular laptops or Android products.

[Alliepoo]

28. Meh. I don't see what's so bad about this

Ad. You could look at it as it’s compacting all sorts of wonderful things into a nice thin tablet for the world to seek and enjoy. Could be they’re also appealing to younger folks who like watching videos of stuff getting squished! I watch with my grands and it’s really kind of fascinating to see what happens to things when they’re super compressed.

[dalton99a]

29. It is STUPID.

[johnp3907]

30. I LOVED watching that metronome get crushed!

[points]

32. Not an Apple fanboy

My tablet is and Android device and my PC is Windows. Not a fanboy.
This is not an offensive ad to me, in the slightest.

Is this really worth the outrage. Really? Come on people. Jeez.

[emulatorloo]

56. Internet comments sections are almost always full of hyperbolic nonsense and hysteria.

I don’t get the “outrage” either. Just silly.

[Gimble]

37. Meh

Seems like there are a lot of people running around looking for things to be offended about. I think those who are offended by this commercial need to raise their sights higher.

[Goodheart]

43. And also get a life.

[EarlG]

65. Perhaps this will make sense:

You can do all kinds of cool things with modern technology, but you can't play the guitar on an iPad, or paint a picture on an iPad, or read a book on an iPad. Apple can approximate all those activities, and simulate them to the best of their ability, but they cannot reproduce on an iPad what it is like to actually perform those physical activities.

People aren't getting offended because Apple smashed a piano. Sometimes smashing a piano is funny. They're getting offended because the ad is completely tone deaf. Apple is probably the number one tech product used by artists, and Apple is trying to sell this new product to those people by showing the prized tools of their trade being smashed to pieces and replaced by an iPad. It's just weird and arrogant.

It's not the "violence" that's offensive, it's the message that Apple is sending to artists and creators who they're trying to market to which is, hey, all that old stuff you love to use is COMPLETELY WORTHLESS! BUY OUR PRODUCT!

If you're not someone that feels affected in that way by this ad, I get it. But to me, it's just tone-deaf. I'm really more baffled as to why they would think this was a good idea, rather than offended.

Remember when VW introduced their new Beetle design years ago? Imagine if they'd tried to sell it to Beetle enthusiasts by running ads showing loads of original Beetles getting crushed in car compactors.

[hlthe2b]

73. Thank you. I agree.

[Emrys]

123. I think this gets to the crux of the cloth-headedness of the ad and one reason why it's stirring antagonism

Apple's hardware and software - and that of other computer brands - can, for instance, as you say, approximate with varying degrees of success a guitar making music, it can also help enhance the music a real guitar makes in ways bounded almost only by the user's imagination, but it can't and needn't do away with the need for and possibilities of a physical guitar and the gnarly process of wringing music out of some wood and wire and human fingers.

If the intention of the ad was to garner attention and provoke reactions and discussion, it may have done that. I'm as unmoved in my lack of intention to purchase a brand-new iPad Pro as I was before I saw it, so project failed for me.

[Elessar Zappa]

44. I don't really see the issue here.

[Think. Again.]

48. Hey Tim Apple, very creative ad ...

...CGI huh? No? Oh...

[Mr.WeRP]

52. Honestly, these reactions are hyperbolic

Apple is one of the least wasteful companies around. I doubt this was a real video given the complexity of a press this large and smashing live electronics with paints.

Come on people.

[spooky3]

57. Reminds me of this:

[tonekat]

58. Apple has declined in quality

I have a new MacBook Pro. The keyboard is awful. It's a 13 inch and while my first MBP was a 13", this feels like a step backwards.

As for the commercial, I hope they didn't pay a lot to the agency that came up with it. But, Apple stuff is so expensive now, they can afford to fritter away money.

[TheRickles]

59. They unintentionally made the point that their digital product will replace all the real physical objects

that we have grown to love with a virtual reality that bypasses our physical analog existence.

[Aussie105]

126. Imagine if you will . . .

You are at a party, and I loudly proclaim . . . hey folks, I've written a new song, a sure fire big hit!
I will play it for you, let me get my guitar!

And I pull out my super slim tablet, instead of a guitar.

Will I get cheers or booos?

[Bongo Prophet]

161. Of course the person who pulls out a real guitar at a party is already likely being booed, if silently.

("Ugh, That guy.&quot
Also, the guy that "loudly proclaims" that they have written a new song, a "surefire hit" there would be so many arched eyebrows you could construct a bridge. I would personally listen respectfully, even with the taste of arrogance still in my throat.

But I digress. Who's the crowd? Is it your party, with a few close friends? Your employees? Or your spouse's Xmas party?
Details make the difference. Context makes a difference.

What if it's a new concerto, or, just bear with me, a piece with synthesizers and tape effects? The new song is intricate and multidimensional, shining light on the petty tyranny of small-minded thinkers. Perhaps the piece includes complex themes which the composer chose to orchestrate in a complex way.
As interpreted by you, the 'humble composer', on a guitar and voice. "And then the choir goes "ahh" while the strings rise, and an old radio recording plays. It's the speech of a small-minded tyrant..."

Of course that wouldn't be a hit anyway. But just...imagine a world...

So instead of a guitarists masturbatory fantasy, the alt-composer says something like, "Hey, I have a recording of the work I've been doing. It's why I've been a little isolated and not answering texts as quickly as usual. I think it's pretty much finished, but wanted to give close friends a listen and maybe get some honest feedback. "I promise, it's only a few minutes long."
Some laughter, mixed with sighs of relief.

And then, composer pulls out their ipad/android, whatever (to neither boos or cheers) and hits play, having already cleared it with the hosts of the party and dealt with the tech so it all works without embarrassing glitches. The lights dim a bit, the mood of expectation grows, and then...

The composer wakes up, I guess.

Moral of this story? Intelligent people should be able to juggle multiple interpretations, resembling friendly contrast-and-compare discussions, not like a gethered mob ready to fight for their one true POV.
Also, humility.

TLDR - Context, and interpretations vary. Clickbait outrage threads are manipulative and often bring out people's darker sides.

Any resemblance of alt-composer to this DUer is just a coincidence, I swear.

[Emrys]

165. Some may be able to guess what's coming ...

An iPad Pro is almost certainly going to be more expensive by far than a presumably run-of-the-mill guitar of the sort one might take along to a party (or maybe it was a precious vintage model - we don't hear enough to be able to tell). The reaction if an iPad Pro had been smashed rather than a guitar might be revealing.

I suppose the lesson, or moral - if there is one - is what you've touched on: to read the room and know your audience. The same applies to posting on a forum or launching an ad campaign. Antagonizing creatives may be an attention-grabbing strategy, but so would literally burning down Carnegie Hall.

Like most who've responded to the OP, I suspect, I'm not outraged by the Apple ad - it's advertising, it's Apple, I block this sort of stuff with barely a second thought on on Twitter as soon as I see it many times a day.

I just chose to comment on it and offer my reaction because someone brought it here and I had some thoughts. That's all.

[emulatorloo]

60. This is just silly internet "comment section" fake Twitter 'outrage' and hyperbolic nonsense.

[highplainsdem]

134. I've edited the OP to add a list of articles about how disastrous and tone-deaf the ad was.

[Sympthsical]

61. I thought it was pretty neat

Maybe it's generational?

Tablets are pretty common for art and creativity nowadays. I've seen composer friends working on music on them, artists using a stylus to sketch out designs and things. Books and games also get smashed in the ad.

I dunno. I love my ipad. I mainly use it to read books, but sometimes I watch my nieces, nephews, or classmates get to work on theirs, and they do all sorts of crazy things on it. I really wish I knew how to use the note-taking app. I'm still pen and notebook, but the way they write it down then flick it around into lists, drawn diagrams, etc. It's interesting to watch and looks crazy organized. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I don't get the hubbub. But Twitter is mainly hubbub, so I guess.

I thought it conveyed the point just fine.

[dchill]

63. Damn you Tim Apple!

[Rob H.]

66. Because if there's one thing people should take seriously

it's the opinions of reactionary dipshits from the cesspool that is Twitter.

The ad's making the point that all of those things--art, music, books, photography, film, games, movies, etc.--can be compressed into a device that weighs less than one and one-third pounds. This is one of the biggest nontroversies I've ever seen.

[JohnnyRingo]

67. I'm totally unoffended beyond compare.

With all the outrage, I thought there was some crude fat shaming of the old iPhone or something.

To those who see something I don't: "It's not the end of the World" as we know it. Apple didn't go Nazi.

[Demobrat]

69. I get what they were trying to do

but they didn’t have to do it like that. They didn’t have to destroy anything. They could have shown all those items being sucked into a whirlpool that turns out to be the iPad - or something.

All those items in an iPad - good. All those beautiful items crushed and obliterated - bad.

[we can do it]

74. This really is silly.

[kysrsoze]

75. Soon enough, everyone will be offended by everything.

n/t

[Auggie]

78. +1,000,000

[musicblind]

92. +2,000,000

[JoseBalow]

103. I find that characterization offensive

Shame on you!

[joshcryer]

77. People have reversed the video and liked it.

Somehow I feel like Apple will get away with this nonsensical ad.

[highplainsdem]

102. The reverse videos are corrections of the ad. They are not complimenting Apple. They're repudiating the company.

[joshcryer]

115. Yeah but a lot of fans are "coping" that the reverse was their "intention."

That the iPad Pro can bring to life all of your media and art and music and such. The idea Apple had was they were "compressing" it down into the iPad Pro and it came off as destroying it (obviously I see the generative media angle which Apple is embracing and that is their true intention with the video).

[LudwigPastorius]

80. I see absolutely nothing wrong with this ad.

It's obviously about squeezing all of those things into an iPad, not about destroying them.

Jesus, people will get upset about anything.

[Patton French]

83. It's brilliant.

Look at all the attention it’s getting.

[LAS14]

87. Yup. They understand what it takes to get attention these days. nt

[Marcus IM]

84. It represents the truth about the replacement of analog instruments.

Digital Audio Workstations have pretty much replaced analog instruments. Although not entirely.

I have several digital libraries of the London Philharmonic and BBC orchestras that, when executed well, can be indistinguishable from an actual orchestra.

Many orchestral movie soundtracks are done on DAWs.

DAW based home studios are ubiquitous for musicians of all levels.

Apple computers are the de facto computer for professional audio production.

[EarlG]

105. Yes, you can replace any instrument with a digital version of that instrument

And you can use those digital instruments to create and compose things that you would never be able to create unless you had access to a full orchestra. That's great!

But you can't replace playing an instrument with a digital version of that instrument.

When I see the instruments being crushed in that ad, I think about the 1986 Rickenbacker 4003 which I've got sitting in the corner. I've owned it since 1992 and it's probably my most prized possession. I have an incredible amount of history with that instrument.

So when Apple is like, "Hey, smash that shit, you don't need it any more!" it kinda makes me think that Apple doesn't really understand me. And I say this as someone who uses Apple products and is not a Luddite.

I just think they hit the wrong tone with the ad, at least for me.

[Marcus IM]

117. I agree with all you posted.

My sentiment is the same. I cringed when I saw it. Nonetheless, it is moving in this direction.

AI song creation, instrumentation, mixing and mastering software is all the rage now.

I remember when drum machines came out. They were dissed ad nauseum, but now it's hard to find music without them or some form of digital replacement. 808s still rule pop music, and the original Roland 808s are hot vintage shit now.

Oh well.

Love my telecaster and 70s fender deluxe tube amp.

[LudwigPastorius]

138. Dude!!

I should have known you're a bass player, because they rule, if I do say so myself.

(I've got a '79 Musicman Stingray and a '78 fretless Sabre, along with a couple of non-vintage basses.)

[EarlG]

139. Love a Stingray

I don't own one, but they're my second favorite, after the Rick

[live love laugh]

86. The point seems to be that all of the items fit in the iPad.

Why the sudden uproar?

[musicblind]

88. I am an artist.

I studied at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

I do not see how this add is offensive.

I see how it can be interrupted as an unintended metaphor for AI, but I do not see how that is offensive. If an artist made the same video with the intent of showing how AI is a threat to our livelihoods, I would not be offended, so why should I be offended because Apple did so unintentionally?

[emulatorloo]

97. I'm an amateur artist. I don't think it is about AI at all, the iPad isn't shown 'generating' art.

It is showing you can have access to tools to make art in a slim form factor.

This has been a theme in Apple marketing since the desktop publishing revolution. Then it was you don’t need a printing press to make a professional publication - just a mac and a laser printer.

[catbyte]

90. This response reversed it and it created a much better vibe

Link to tweet

[bringthePaine]

95. fucking monopolists ALWAYS cry CAPITALISM😱

[W T F]

98. Everyone is an art critic. Lighten up, there are issues that are way bigger than this.

[moonshinegnomie]

104. imho people need to lighten up

in todays world with all the evil out there and this is what people decide to be pissed about.

[Blues Heron]

109. The one rule of writing great ads - dont crush the smiley

this ad is a fail

neeeeeexxxxxtt!

[emulatorloo]

114. Death to the Smiley/ Long Live the Emoticon

[Oneironaut]

112. Oh come on. lol

No offense, but, the people who think this ad is “insensitive” need to touch grass.

[radicalleft]

119. This thread is hillarious....

Getting close to Olive Garden level goofiness...

[msongs]

120. yeah but does it have a universal jack for mic/headphones/line in? Great ad btw because

its got people talking

[Aussie105]

121. Not an ad I want to see again.

But we get it, it's Apple trying to fire up its devoted followers . . . and it multitasks! GollyGosh!

It multitasks - it can take pictures, do graphic design, play guitar notes. But it does none of those things as well as the single task devices it thinks it can replace.

All I can think of - how overpriced will it be, and how easily can that thin thing bend? And is accidental banana shaping it covered by warranty? (Silly question!)

It's another tablet, just some incremental improvements over the last over priced, over hyped one, Apple!

[Jedi Guy]

122. And the gold medal for "most ridiculous taking of offense" goes to...

Oh. Oh dear. It's a tie! All of those comments are winners! Put your hands together for the internet, folks, it's done it again!

Of all the silly things to get so worked up about, good grief.

[brooklynite]

128. I saw this in the product launch and people seem to completely misunderstand it

It’s doesn’t suggest “destruction” of things; it suggests a combination of them (music, art, games) into a single device.

But it’s least it gives the “I hate Apple” something new to virtuously complain about.

[Doodley]

156. Agreed. If only some of those outraged commentators showed equal outtage toward Trump who wants to actually destroy

so much that is good.

[ecstatic]

129. I'm not in the apple ecosphere and don't plan to be, but my impression is that

they were trying to say that they're creating a device that has all those wonderful things inside. It was all being merged into the tablet. That said, it still was a little weird / creepy. lol

[highplainsdem]

131. Article: The new iPad ad essentially flips AI-weary creatives the bird

https://mashable.com/article/crush-ipad-commercial

[Aussie105]

132. Who is the ad meant to appeal to?

Certainly not established artists, photographers, writers, etc - people who have put a lot of time and money into their current analog and digital tools.
People who will be offended by the message to throw all that away, and just buy the new shiny thing.

Just leaves the new and upcoming generations of professional graphic/music/etc artists.
This tool will do it all!

A niche market, that is.

But incremental improvements in a tablet - Apple has to somehow justify the silly price tag. And get you onto their eternal upgrade path.

I'm surprised the ad doesn't also include crushing a lot of older Apple devices - but would that be one step too far towards honesty?

[emulatorloo]

137. Obviously iPad Pro is marketed towards professionals and content creators. Regular iPad is $349 and marketed

and targeted at consumers.

As opposed to the consumer iPad line, The Pro line offers more powerful processors, higher resolution cameras, larger and higher resolution screens/higher pixel density.

‘A niche market, that is.’

Yes pros and content creators (graphic artists, pro musicians, film editors) are a niche market, always have been. They’re running very different apps (advanced graphic apps, pro music apps, film editing apps) than most of us do.

Consumers who use their tablets to browse the web and store photos aren’t the market for the pro line. They don’t need the more advanced tech.

Seems kind of obvious.

Clearly Apple’s not the only company in the world that has different product lines for consumers and professionals.

Sony for example. If you don’t need a Sony 4k broadcast quality camera don’t buy one.

[Zeitghost]

143. I Don't Get the Outrage

I saw it as a "Look how many things we can cram into slim tablet".

[Doodley]

155. Some people want to be outraged.

[chouchou]

145. Idiotic ad for idiotic modern people.

Apple is playing to the Taylor Swift crowd

[Bongo Prophet]

163. "I don't like her music, but" comment here.

Sorry, it's required.

[yardwork]

146. My zoomer step-son would love this ad.

I think it's zoomer humor, which is highly ironic and convoluted. Of course, people of all ages can appreciate highly ironic, somewhat nihilistic humor. It's just a particular hallmark of zoomers.

Personally, I find the ad disturbing, violent, and ugly, but that's probably a typical "ok boomer" response.

[Dave Bowman]

154. "disturbing, violent, and ugly"

Yes, that's pretty much how I see it. Is "ok Xer" a thing too?

[yardwork]

160. There's room on Bench W for you too!

I just showed the ad to my stepson and got some interesting reactions. As I expected, he found it hilarious. However, as a musician himself, he was slightly disturbed that "they destroyed actual instruments to make this." He viewed that as wasteful.

I said, "What about crushing the smiley face dudes?" "You mean the emojis?" "Oh, I didn't realize those were emojis, so, not real." Puzzled look from him, along the lines of "What is going on inside that grey head?"

I asked about the music, did he recognize it, he said no. (Did Apple use it to appeal to boomers? Troll us?)

Overall, he said the ad is smart because it's getting people talking, but he thinks the new iPad is "way too thin and it's going to break, so people are going to be mad about that."

[NowsTheTime]

151. Modern commercials are not worth my time.....at best a necessry evil..

.....generally most are dumb

[Dave Bowman]

152. That's a stupid and cold ad.

After watching the video I feel kind of depressed.

[Doodley]

153. I'm outraged at the outrage, and comparing this to Nazi Germany is disgusting.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

158. Thinness is greatly overrated. Who really needs anorexic iPads? . . . . nt

[Mosby]

164. Its just a dumb commercial.

Jeez.

[dalton99a]

166. Apple apologizes for iPad ad after blowback

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/05/09/apple-ipad-ad-apology/

https://archive.ph/VIVNH

Apple apologizes for iPad ad after blowback
The ad was meant to show how much the iPad can do. Creatives saw it differently.
By Heather Kelly
May 9, 2024 at 8:53 p.m. EDT

Apple is apologizing for an iPad ad that was supposed to celebrate the creative possibilities of its newest, priciest tablet. Instead, the company received vocal blowback for appearing to destroy beloved physical tools used by artists.

The ad, released after the company announced its newest iPad lineup on Tuesday, showed a massive hydraulic press destroying a mountain of supplies used to create music, paintings, sculptures, clothing and writing. It flattened a record player, a piano, buckets of paints, journals, a camera and drawing board. After about 45 seconds of destruction and one dramatic splatter, the press pulled up to reveal a tiny iPad.

The goal was to show how much the iPad is now capable of, but instead it offended many of the same creatives it was trying to sell on the device.

Critics online called the new ad wasteful and disrespectful. Some were upset that Apple appeared to be destroying perfectly good art supplies while most were more offended that it devalued the more analog ways of creating art — especially when tools like AI are being used to automate things like writing, music and illustration.

Generative AI tools have used massive amounts of creative works to train their systems to spit out similar style images and texts, often without permission from the original artists.

[highplainsdem]

167. Thanks! Another article about the apology in this thread:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218936308

[highplainsdem]

168. Stephen Colbert's Late Show weighs in:

[PatSeg]

169. Whoa, they were really on top of that ad!

[Xavier Breath]

170. I can see a segment of the population wanting to appear thin even in the graveyard, so kudos.

I only saw the ad this morning after reading a story in the online edition of the local paper (two reasons why Apple is not courting my business) that sent me to YouTube for it. The backlash I read about no doubt colored my perception of the ad a bit, effectively having me on the lookout for offenses when I otherwise might not have been.

I mean, I get it. Perhaps I might not have made the AI connection initially, but I can't unsee it now. Personally though, I'd place this about two rungs below the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad on the tone-deaf scale.