At first glance, it definitely looks like Apple metaphorically crushed it again with the spectacular announcements of two monstrously powerful new iPad Pros, as well as two redesigned iPad Airs, an “even more magical” Pencil Pro, and a mind-blowing M4 chip earlier this week.
But while most tech enthusiasts were probably left awestruck by the gorgeous designs and incredible performance upgrades of the latest candidates for the title of best tablet in the world, advertising and filmmaking professionals from everywhere chose to focus their energy in a different direction. And it’s not one Tim Cook is likely to appreciate.
Uploaded to Apple’s YouTube channel shortly after Tuesday’s big iPad launch and shared by Cook himself on X on the same day, the first commercial dedicated to the newest addition to the iPad Pro family was widely and overwhelmingly criticized all over social media.
While the YouTube comments section was closed right from the start, the negative reactions essentially flooded Tim Cook‘s X post within hours of it being published. Looking at some of the brutal comments on there, it’s hard to understand what the creative team behind this ad was thinking, and honestly, it’s a little surprising that Apple has yet to remove the 60-second clip from YouTube and everywhere else.
The commercial’s idea is pretty simple… and undeniably bad, highlighting how the new iPad Pro virtually makes humanity’s traditional ways of creating art and consuming entertainment obsolete. Of course, Apple could have expressed that message with a little (or a lot) more subtlety and care than simply smashing paints, sheet music, instruments, sculptures, a bunch of records, and even an entire piano to pieces.
One suggestion presented by a number of different X users was to reverse the ad to preserve its central concept while showing respect to traditional art and artists, and to highlight that point, actor, writer, and producer Reza Sixo Safai did precisely that, “fixing” the publicity debacle for Apple.
Many other commenters either labeled the video as “extremely distasteful”, abhorrent, “heartbreaking”, uncomfortable, and simply very, very bad on multiple levels or offered scathing and thoughtful explanations as to why they viscerally hate the ad.
A director, writer, and producer perhaps explained the problem with the commercial best, calling it the “most honest metaphor for what tech companies do to the arts, to artists, musicians, creators, writers, filmmakers: squeeze them, use them, not pay well, and take everything then say it’s all created by them.” And as usual, Nothing CEO Carl Pei summed it all up perfectly with one carefully chosen word: “yikes.”