iPad Pro iPad Pro “crush!” ad getting criticism in Japan

[seggy]

Right.

Well it's like everything isnt it. There will always be people who will jump in and criticise things where the original intent was symbolic and not literal.
Sadly people like to virtue signal when they can do it loudly and publicly to 'make themselves look good'.

What nonsense. The ad is a paradigm for 'compressing all these things into a super thin ipad' - very clear and obvious.

Im amazed that people have enough free time to put finger to keyboard to criticise an ad.

It's also distinctly symbolic, if you want to take it further:
"why have that boring physical stuff when you can do it all via AI"

Especially bearing in mind Apple & every other tech company's focus going forwards, but nowhere else is it going to be more evident than with Apple. Apple-first creators in media have majority been the most cookie cutter types using whatever new thing on an intentionally homogenous platform, and it's doubly symbolic that way.

To me it definitely has the misdudged cringe theme running in recent Apple marketing. It's not quite up there with the cringe Eminem kid keynote moment but more mundane cringe

 

[Rogifan]

Not really a question of being offended. But given the context of a lot of creative people's concerns about the impact of AI on human creativity, the image of crushing all of the tools used for that creativity into an iPad is a bit concerning. It used to be iPads and other computers were designed to enhance human creativity - record your guitar onto your iPad and look at what you can do with it! The idea of replacing the guitar with your iPad is a bit unsettling.

I think the ad would have been better if all these creative tools sprung from the iPad vs being crushed by them. So the iPad is about enhancing, not replacing them.

 

[Night Spring]

To me, the most dissonant thing is the emojis being crushed. Emojis are digital to begin with! Why are they being crushed along with all the other analog equipment? It doesn't make sense.

 

[Maclver]

i think there are bigger problems in the world than getting bent out of shape by a CGI ad. Its just an ad.. move on.

 

[Japan Ricardo]

I live in Japan, and no-one's mentioned this, and I don't understand what "fair share" is supposed to mean. It's not offensive or anti-Japanese in any way. It's a rather long way of explaining that a new product is very thin, but so what?

 

[stocklen]

nobody had a problem with this....

and this wasnt CGI!

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

It's a pretty dumb commercial like most of the commercials Apple makes. But to have any stronger feelings than that about it is far more dumb.

 

[geekiemac]

Apple is getting a fair share of criticism in Japan, with several sites reporting on how their new ad for the iPad pro is off putting to creators:

What are you guys’ thoughts? I guess this might be cultural because I could only find news from japanese sites and most people replying at Tim’s X are Japanese.

Tim’s post:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1787864325258162239

I could imagine it's a cultural thing. A misunderstanding somehow.
Personally, I thought the ad was spot on in terms of message conveyed, albeit a bit weird.

 

[stocklen]

I could imagine it's a cultural thing. A misunderstanding somehow.
Personally, I thought the ad was spot on in terms of message conveyed, albeit a bit weird.

Theres no misunderstanding.

Its the very worst of the internet and social media world in 2024.

Let's face it... who's actually offended by a squished trumpet??? I mean.... seriously? offended???

No, its more the maelstrom of sheeple being given an opinion on something that they dont take a moment to think of for themselves and in so doing realise its beyond ridiculous.
Before you know it - its a thing - and people are shouting offence from the rooftops.

Sigh.

... its a squished trumpet.

 

[RichHI]

I think the commercial shows that the Marketers at Apple have lost connection with the creative community. Rather than showing creative tools being destroyed it should have focused on bringing creative tools together fitting all these things into the new small size. Great product poor marketing. Of course it could well be that Apple are going after School children and Influencers who would react well to the destructive content. Marketing to different segments requires careful handling.

 

[super chimp]

I think the commercial shows that the Marketers at Apple have lost connection with the creative community. Rather than showing creative tools being destroyed it should have focused on bringing creative tools together fitting all these things into the new small size. Great product poor marketing. Of course ti could well be that Apple are going after School children and Influencers who would react well to the destructive content. Marketing to different segments requires careful handling.

But even that could be regarded as ill timed considering a number of countries focus on reducing children’s time on smartphones. I know over here in the UK there’s been much talk in the media and by politicians on that topic.

 

[Ubele]

A far better way to convey the point would have been to have all the tools, instruments, art come out of the iPad.

Sadly.

I like that idea!

 

[nj-morris]

Found this article that sums it up pretty well (albeit critically).

Apple destroys vintage instruments in tone-deaf new commercial for iPad Pro

Apple's new advertisement for the latest version of the iPad Pro ignores any relevant metaphor and destroys symbols of creativity.

consequence.net

 

[tomtad]

We are aware that LG did an almost identical ad in 2008 right?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1788428991118164356

 

[JustAnExpat]

We are aware that LG did an almost identical ad in 2008 right?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1788428991118164356

the LG phone didn't announce that it was AI powered. When the LG phone came out in 2008, AI wasn't in the news, and industries weren't striking because they thought AI was going to replace their jobs.

 

[Apple Tree Climber]

Neat. Although it doesn’t quite tell the same story, and it doesn’t tell it as well.

In 2008, the livelihood of entire generations of artists was not at stake due to AI

In 2008, no one was anxiously doomscrolling staring at their phone for hours on end

Different times. And Apple of all brands should know better than destroy their pro-artist vibes with such violent imagery

An extraordinary mistake from them, and I am looking forward to see if and how they respond to the backlash.

I think they will stay quiet for now and instead turn their future ads and communication in a different direction.

 

[sw1tcher]

🤣

Apple apologizes for iPad Pro ad that ‘missed the mark’

Apple says its ‘Crush’ spot fell short of its goal of empowering and celebrating creatives.

adage.com

"Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world. Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry."

 

[darngooddesign]

I don’t like the ad. Just seeing all those things destroyed. I don’t like it. I get the point they’re making. I also think it’s at odds with the Apple stance on the environment too….recycle / re-use. It’ll get talked about which meets one of the objectives of an ad…

All of those objects are being recycled into an iPad.

 

[klasma]

9to5mac article about Apple apologizing: https://9to5mac.com/2024/05/09/ipad-pro-crush-ad-apology/

 

[Realityck]

Well at least this ad was colorful, and a good one to critique against marketing tech devices that are getting thinner and thinner.

 

[H. Flower]

Actually the worst part of the ad for me is the lyric “All I ever need is you,“ because it’s dishonest. iPad can do a lot, but no, it can’t do everything traditional media can. Some things it’s better at, some things it’s worse.

Like those stupid “what’s a computer“ ads trying to suggest ipads make desktops obsolete.

 

[H. Flower]

The US twitter storm is hilarious. Put it this way to fit how they talk on that platform:

"Old rich white people upset that the younger generation get access to creative tools for a lower cost - blames Apple".

This is about skin color ?

Racist much ?

 

[hektor6tygr]

I live in Japan, and no-one's mentioned this, and I don't understand what "fair share" is supposed to mean. It's not offensive or anti-Japanese in any way. It's a rather long way of explaining that a new product is very thin, but so what?

In this case a fair share of people who use X, enough to make it into yahoo news and other news sites here in Japan. Of course, that could just be a loud minority.

 

[Xenden]

I thought it was a neat ad. I was also hoping for a behind the scenes video. Oh well.

The thing that more upset me, was how out of the way Apple went to put very few white models in the iPad photos on the iPad Air and iPad Pro marketing material. They did the same on the Vision Pro website. If Apple wants to reflect reality, there should be a roughly 50/50 make up of white/non-white models.

The crush ad was an interesting way to show everything that the iPad Pro can do “crushed” into a sheet of glas.

 

[Realityck]

Apple scraps iPad Pro 'Crushed' ad and issues rare apology – and it was the right thing to do

Destruction may not equal creativity

www.techradar.com

The idea is that all this creativity can be combined into this one M4-running iPad Pro. But that message is quickly lost as you bear witness to the destruction of precious objects.

My rational brain understood the point but my emotional one was disturbed and I barely noticed the iPad Pro at the end of it.

We can mark this as a rare misstep for the protean tech giant, and it's unlikely to distract from the startling innovation we witnessed on May 7. As my iPad Pro 13-inch hands-on notes: "Apple's iPad Pro experience now feels more premium than ever, with the 2024 model boasting almost shocking thinness, intriguing new power thanks to a new M4 chip, and dual-OLED-panel screen technology that offers stunning image quality, with near plasma-screen-level blacks."

I'm sure that can be depicted in a new ad.