Apple apologizes for controversial iPad ad criticism

Ad featuring hydraulic press crushing cultural objects upset many

Apple has apologized following an online backlash over an ad for its new iPad. The ad, unveiled by CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday, features an industrial-sized hydraulic press crushing creative objects like musical instruments and books. It shows the press squashing items including a piano, a metronome, paint tins, and an arcade game, before revealing a single iPad Pro. A voiceover declares, “The most powerful iPad ever is also the thinnest.”

The notion that an iPad can condense humanity’s cultural achievements into a 5mm-thick object was met with mixed reactions on social media. Actor Hugh Grant commented on X that the ad symbolized “the destruction of the human experience, courtesy of Silicon Valley.”

Justine Bateman, a US filmmaker critical of AI’s impact on her industry, wrote on X: “Why did Apple create an ad that crushes the arts? Tech and AI aim to destroy the arts and society in general.”

Apple later apologized, acknowledging the ad was misjudged.

“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives worldwide,” said Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice-president of marketing communications, in a statement to Ad Age. “Our goal is to celebrate the myriad ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”

It was reported that while the ad is still available on Cook’s X account and YouTube, Apple has canceled plans to air it on TV.

Unfavorable comparisons were also drawn to Ridley Scott’s 1984 Apple Macintosh ad, which depicted an Orwellian future being challenged by a sledgehammer-wielding heroine, with the tagline “You’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984’.”

Christopher Slevin, creative director at UK marketing agency Inkling Culture, wrote on LinkedIn: “It seems Apple has become Big Brother, subtly shaping our digital lives in ways we may not fully grasp or choose to ignore. The new iPad Pro ad, while stunning, suggests a future where our creativity is confined to digital screens, and all physicality is crushed by the relentless march of technology.”

Paul Graham, a Silicon Valley investor, wrote on X that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs “wouldn’t have shipped that ad.” He added, “It would have pained him too much to watch.”

Apple has been contacted for comment.