A good commercial can often be the selling point for new items coming to market. However, there are times where the commercial completely misses the mark and turns away potential business. This is the case with the new Apple iPad Pro commercial.
Apple released a new commercial for the iPad Pro, where a hydraulic press crushes instruments and other creative tools. When the press lifts back up, it unveils the new “ultra-thin” version of iPad Pro. The commercial, set to the tune of Sonny & Cher‘s “All I Ever Need is You,” was shared by Apple CEO Tim Cook‘s X account.
Already there has been a lot of backlash among the general public, claiming the ad is “tone deaf and dystopian.” It is speculated that Apple was tryin to profit off the ASMR TikTok trend of using a hydraulic press. While the trend is to rate levels of satisfaction from the items crushed, this ad does not offer any satisfaction. If anything, it is a realistic portrait of how technology is affecting society and how company leaders don’t see the disconnect.
Guitars, an arcade cabinet, paints, turntables, a piano, and books are all in the pile being crushed. Items that are all made, or used by human hands to further creativity and culture. And they’re all crushed to reveal a piece of technology that will have a price tag that many can’t justify. Especially not with the current economy. We can definitely see how the ad is perceived as tone deaf.
Check out the ad for yourself, down below.
UPDATE
Apple has since apologized for the ad.
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad,” Tor Myhren, Apple’s VP of marketing communications, told Ad Age. “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
