Apple's soul crushing ad and what went wrong
On the 8th May, Apple announced several new iPad devices, a new Apple Pencil, and an updated Magic Keyboard. But what caught my eye and the ire of others is the ad they released showcasing the iPad Pro, specifically spotlighting its extreme thinness.
In the ad, a massive hydraulic press ruthlessly compresses tools that are commonly used in the creative arts. After the cold, mechanical press completes it’s mashing, it rises to reveal the sleek new iPad Pro.
Removing my emotional reaction aside, I understand that the message Apple is trying to convey is the fact the iPad Pro is so powerful, it can fit a multitude of creative tools in it’s impossibly thin 5.1 mm profile.
But the visceral destruction of paint cans, cameras, musical instruments, and other tools has struck a nerve and received overwhelming backlash on social media. On X, CEO Tim Cook’s post has garnered 45 million views but virtually all of the replies have been negative.
So what went wrong
Forgetting who your audience is
The cardinal sin for marketers is forgetting who your target audience is, and subsequently creating advertising for your own ego. Had the marketing team showed the first cut of this ad to an artist, a musician, or a photographer, they would’ve received the feedback needed to avoid this debacle.
Not reading the room
In the current zeitgeist, there’s fear and trepidation that AI will be replacing jobs in the creative industry. It was after all, a key issue in the Hollywood writers strike back in September last year and even caused director Tyler Perry to pause his $800M Studio Expansion.
To release an ad, that is titled Crush!, that brutal crushes the creative tools in this moment in time shows a clear lack of judgement.
Focus on the positive, not the negative
Apple has been carefully positioning the iPad as the go to device for artistic creation but this ad instead focused on wanton destruction. Such a jarring juxtaposition makes the ad feel un-Apple.
Ironically, as Twitter user kepano pointed out the ad works perfectly if its reversed, which they made in just 5 minutes, in iMovie no less.
Closing thoughts
When I started my career at Apple as an intern, I was shown the keynote intro video from WWDC 2013 and it left a profound impression on me. In it, there’s a timely phrase - “there are a thousand no’s for every yes'“ - perhaps someone at Apple should have said no to this ad.
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