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Samsung, Microsoft, Google = no cringe at all.

Apple = always cringe no matter what.

At least on tech blogs where Apple hatred is alive and festering. In the real world Apple’s marketing is superb and entertaining as well as humorous.

I've noticed the same.

I guess Apple's massive success with 1+ Billion active and repeat customers, making it one of the most successful consumer tech companies in the world, really gets some people worked up.
 
Ossified trillion dollar company gets cold feet when very average ad campaign not universally beloved. Shocked, I am.

There's so much cringe at work here it's hard to know where to begin: Apple for losing faith in their own work, Apple for pretending they still have any hipster rebel cred to start with (or ever had it to begin with), or the usual crew of sycophants rushing to defend Apple's honor.

As the bags of meat with wallets that all corporations see us as, I suppose we ultimately get what we deserve.
 
I have unfortunately known people who didn't want to use a windows laptop so bad they did not take college classes because that's the only computer their grandparents would give them. (Probably an excuse, not a real reason, but still...)
It isn’t that long ago that you didn’t need a computer at all to take college classes. It shouldn’t be a requirement.
 
Yes it's cringe, it's intentionally cringe. The ad (for those critics who didn't watch it) actually shows someone walking out, because the presenter is portrayed as being so bad. The generation this is aimed at knows that ads are trying to manipulate them, not entertain them. So I think the people who made the ad knew what they're doing. But comedy is hard, and having a punch line that lasts this long is tough to manage.

It needs an edit. It seems they made it intentionally long to make the video audience squirm, the way the audience of actors is squirming, but I still think it could have lost a minute. There were gags we saw twice that we didn't need to see twice. But I figure they knew that, so I'm not sure what they were going for exactly.

A lot of ads have a character that stands in for the customer. In this case, it's the audience of bored looking students. But they never seem convinced, and only seem to applaud at the end because of the weirdly tacked on "emotional" moment, not because they've been convinced to make a presentation for their parents.

It has funny moments but I think it's trying too hard to be inauthentic in order to inspire an ironic vibe that they (I assume) hope would make the ad go viral. But I'm not the generation this is aimed at, and I'd wager that few in this forum are.
 
It's not offensive it's just awful.
Yep. Lots of strawman arguments in this thread criticizing people for calling it offensive.

Except AFAIK nobody here called it offensive. It’s just a terrible cringy ad.

Yes it's cringe, it's intentionally cringe. The ad (for those critics who didn't watch it) actually shows someone walking out, because the presenter is portrayed as being so bad. The generation this is aimed at knows that ads are trying to manipulate them, not entertain them. So I think the people who made the ad knew what they're doing. But comedy is hard, and having a punch line that lasts this long is tough to manage.
The problem is it comes across as some middle aged ad exec trying to be funny to teens.
 
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Yes it's cringe, it's intentionally cringe. The ad (for those critics who didn't watch it) actually shows someone walking out, because the presenter is portrayed as being so bad. The generation this is aimed at knows that ads are trying to manipulate them, not entertain them. So I think the people who made the ad knew what they're doing. But comedy is hard, and having a punch line that lasts this long is tough to manage.

This is actually a really smart analysis. If so, then I think you're ultimately correct: It was too long by about 7 and a half minutes. As a 30 second or 1 minute bit, it would've worked. As this weird infomercial, it unintentionally becomes what it intended to satirize.
 
I honestly didn't sit through the ad--7 minutes is a long time to be watching an ad for something I already own.

However, I loved the presentation. It was whimsical and clever, actually well thought out, and I loved that there was something tangible about it. Honestly, they could do more things like this.
 
It’s a light-hearted ad about a computer. It’s not going to push you down and steal your lunch money. You may not like it, but that’s fine. You may love it - that’s fine too. Jeez.

Not sure why you seem to be frustrated at the reactions here.

Apple pulled their own AD, so clearly they aren't pleased with something about it also.
 
Maybe in the US? It’s been less than “decades” for me, and I think it’s still not a requirement here.
It isn't a requirement here either, at least not for most schools. One only needs access to a computer, not to own one. And depending on courses the necessity of that access varies. Many schools will give students a free computer also.
 
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These days, every misstep at Apple seems to stem from poor leadership. After 42 years as a loyal customer, I no longer feel the same about the company. While they still build the best mousetraps compared to the competition, my opinion of the company now plays a role in my purchasing decisions.
I agree. I wouldn't be surprised if executives scoff at your post as if you will always be loyal to their products. ***In the voice of Kevin Hart*** SOMEBODY GONE LEARN TODAY! 🤣🤣🤣
 
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