Apple has taken the unusual step of apologizing for a short iPad Pro commercial in which a hydraulic press destroys musical instruments. This was reported by CNBC.
Apple CEO Tim Cook posted the video on May 7. Apple also posted an ad on YouTube.
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
The video shows a press being lowered onto various objects, including a guitar and a piano, literally crushing them. After that, an iPad Pro appears in the frame, obviously to make viewers think that big things can be "compressed" and fit into one small device.
However, the destruction of the tools was not the best idea for the commercial. Many people were outraged by Apple's video and expressed their dissatisfaction on social media.
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad,” Tor Myhren, vice president of marketing communications at Apple, told Ad Age, an advertising trade publication. “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
According to media reports, after the incident, the company decided not to run this ad on television.
By the way, LG also used such an analogy in its advertising. It was reminded to us by one of the users of the X platform, who posted the corresponding video in 2008.
LG phone ad from 2008 (BBH London) pic.twitter.com/cWIDZx1d4a
— Andy Allen (@asallen) May 9, 2024