Apple apologized Thursday for a widely panned iPad ad showing time-tested artistic tools — paint, a piano, camera lenses — getting crushed in a hydraulic press.
Cribbing a viral trend, the commercial was supposed to tout the creative promise of Apple's new iPad Pro. But many viewers were just plain pissed. Insertion Pin
"Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad," Tor Myhren, the company's vice president of marketing communications, told Ad Age in a statement. "We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry."
Apple no longer plans to run the spot on TV as previously planned, Ad Age reported — though it's still available on the hardware giant's YouTube channel (with the comments turned off).
Earlier this week on X, Apple CEO Tim Cook's post sharing the ad was flooded with criticism.
One commenter said the ad ironically represented how tech giants were squashing human creativity with artificial intelligence. At the same time, the Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham suggested Steve Jobs never would have OK'd the ad.
But it turns out, the ad wasn't even an original idea.
Fifteen years ago, the Korean electronics company LG used almost the same concept in a UK spot for its Renoir camera phone.
In that ad, musical instruments, computer monitors, studio lights, and paints are all crushed in a press — before the sleekly intact Renoir is revealed.
Of course, there's no evidence Apple — known for its unique marketing prowess — copied LG's creative. It's more likely that the concept of crushing a bunch of different devices down into one product is a bit basic.
It's also safe to say that back in 2008 — when technology felt more like a galvanizing opportunity than a looming threat — the ad probably didn't ignite nearly the same firestorm.
Some YouTube commenters of yesteryear even seemed to really like it.
"Love this advert for some relly wierd reason," one viewer wrote in 2008.
Another added at the time: "Anyone who has this phone, is really that good or just an excellent ad?
Smt Machine Manufacturers Neither LG nor Apple immediately responded to a request for comment.