Apple Pulls Latest Ad After Criticism Over Depiction of Thailand

[MacRumors]

Apple today issued an apology to Thailand for the way the country was portrayed in a July "The Underdogs" short film, and the video has also been removed from Apple's YouTube channel. In the ad that was released on July 18, the underdogs design team traveled to Bangkok and Rayong, Thailand for a project and were depicted traveling in a tuk-tuk and staying in a rundown hotel.

Thai residents found the depiction of Thailand offensive, and took to social media to criticize Apple for portraying the country with outdated stereotypes. The video made Thailand look "low-tech and underdeveloped" due to the faded, sepia tone and focus on dilapidated architecture, according to the Bangkok Post.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816768894218260808

Thai House of Representatives Committee on Tourism spokesperson Sattra Sripan called for a boycott on Apple over the video. "Thai people are deeply unhappy with the advertisement," he said. "I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands." He said that the tourism committee planned to invite Apple representatives and state agencies to discuss the ad.

Apple in a statement to Bangkok Post this morning said that it was sorry that Thailand was inaccurately portrayed, and confirmed that the ad had been taken down.

Our intent was to celebrate the country's optimism and culture, and we apologize for not fully capturing the vibrancy of Thailand today.

Apple worked with Thailand-based film production studio Indochina Productions on the video, and it was shot entirely in Thailand. Since 2019, Apple has released several videos that star the underdogs as part of an "Apple at Work" ad campaign.

This is the second ad that Apple has pulled this year. When the M4 iPad Pro models came out in May, Apple showed a video of a hydraulic press crushing an array of creative tools, which was not well received by creatives. Apple pulled the video, apologized, and said that it had "missed the mark" with the ad.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Pulls Latest Ad After Criticism Over Depiction of Thailand

 

[jdavid_rp]

Next time make one based in Spain. I don’t mind if they include paellas, drunk people with sangrias, Spaniards taking naps at 7pm, flamencas and whatever other stereotypes I don’t remember lol

 

[contacos]

They even used the orange "Mexican filter" jikes. The "resort" thing reminds me of the times I went to the Philippines though and made me giggle. Every rundown building called themselves a resort

 

[kylelerner]

Can anyone not be offended by anything?

 

[Bustycat]

"Only Apple can do" doesn't work this time.

 

[fenderbass146]

Eyeroll... So sick of the unneeded apologize culture we have created.

 

[brandoman]

So... just "inaccurately portrayed"? I'd like more specifics.

 

[lotones]

Over-sensitivity to something as mundane as a well-intentioned ad is a symptom of the pervasive intolerance infesting our planet.

People need to get over themselves and lighten up. There are a lot more important things to get upset about.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

Can anyone not be offended by anything?

I'll never forgive them for squishing those things.

 

[CyberBob859]

Where have you gone Chiat Day?

 

[iLuddite]

A hit dog hollers

 

[testcard]

Apple just apologised to an entire country 😂

 

[winxmac]

Anyone got the YouTube link?

Was it actually deleted or just set to private?

Samsung's ingenious YouTube videos were set to private and not deleted...

 

[Graphikos]

"I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands." lol.. wut?

 

[Sevendaymelee]

We need people to stand up and say, no, we disagree, you are wrong, if we're ever going to get back to something approximating rational in this world we live in.

 

[nfl46]

My goodness. The world is so damn sensitive. You have to be PC with every damn thing nowadays or you will get canceled.

 

[Corefile]

Would we expect an apology from a Thai company that used WV or MS for a video commercial? I mean, those two places are the sewers of America but they exist and so do the people that live there. (Apologies if you're in WV and reading this as I've never been there but I've been to MS so no apology necessary).

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Come on.....It's obviously fiction and meant to be funny, I mean, there is someone wearing a Vision Pro.

 

[killhippie]

I wonder how it would have gone down in Detroit USA or Middlesbrough UK also how many of the posters here have to been to Thailand?

 

[Quasselstripper]

I’m usually against cancelling stuff but in this case I can understand the Thai people!

 

[phgreer]

I'll never forgive them for squishing those things.

I thought it was pretty cool to me. I never saw what the problem was. They were just saying they were squeezing all the stuff into an iPad.

 

[klasma]

Can anyone not be offended by anything?

That’s not the problem. The problem is perceiving feeling offended as a problem.

 

[Quasselstripper]

"I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands." lol.. wut?

They usually buy android anyway bc it’s cheaper

 

[phgreer]

Eyeroll... So sick of the unneeded apologize culture we have created.

Same here

 

[alexandr]

I wonder how it would have gone down in Detroit USA or Middlesbrough UK also how many of the posters here have to been to Thailand? View attachment 2402295

I have, and most of it doesn't look anything like the picture you posted.