From pop-art iPod commercials to celebrity-driven Mac vs. PC campaigns, Apple has few marketing missteps to its name.
But critics have slammed the tech giant over its controversial ad for its latest model, the iPad, saying it disrespects artists and the creative community, a demographic that was once drawn to Apple products. I'm blaming.
The ad, titled 'Crush!', depicts a variety of creative objects being slowly crushed in a hydraulic press, including musical instruments, fine art sculptures, typewriters, record stands, and vintage arcade machines. .
(You know, the one that David Letterman frequently used to smash bowling balls for fun. Similar videos are currently dominating TikTok feeds everywhere.)
When a news organization destroys its spread, it is released and a shiny new iPad appears that replaces or obsolete everything that came before. All I Ever Need Is You Cher and Sonny's song rings out.
Watch | Apple ad upset artist:
The spot went viral as critics slammed its message. As artists grapple with the threat of artificial intelligence, some found the image of big technology crushing their creative tools particularly hard to bear.
“Apple's new ad is a perfect depiction of what Big Tech sadly stands for: crushing human creativity in the name of innovation and selling it to us as progress.” One of the X users said. I have written.
“In the current situation, it is at least tone-deaf and at worst malicious.” [AI] It replaces human art. ”
Krista Ball, an Edmonton-based author and Apple shareholder, said the commercial gave her “pretty much the same visceral, awful reaction you get when you see a really bad political ad.”
“The iPad is not meant to replace pen and paper tools,” Ball said in an interview with CBC News. “Apple has always had a reputation for collaborating with art and trying to expand art, and literally destroying art and saying, 'We're better' is not appealing to artists.”
Apple develops technology that complements creative work, from user-friendly tools like iMovie and GarageBand for editing film and audio to professional tools like Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro. has been known for many years.
In a social media post introducing the commercial, Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed to echo the message, writing about the new iPad: “Imagine all the things it could be used to create. ” he wrote.
However, British actor Hugh Grant saw things differently. “Destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” Grant wrote in response to Cook's post. American actress Justine Bateman bluntly asked Cook:
CBC News has reached out to Apple for comment.
reminds me of famous things 1984 commercial
For many critics, Apple's new ad drew unwelcome similarities to Apple's famous 1984 ad. blade runner Director Ridley Scott depicts a dystopian society ruled by a Big Brother-like figure.
As the ruler addresses his enthralled supporters from the television, a woman leaps toward the screen and smashes it with a sledgehammer.
“On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce MacIntosh, and you'll see why 1984 is anything but.” 1984” a voiceover declares, quoting George Orwell's classic novel.
Watch | Ridley Scott's classic 1984 Apple commercial:
Anne-Marie Dorland, assistant professor of marketing at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said the 1984 ad “taught people to feel that Apple was rebellious.”
The company's flagship product, the Mac Computer, “was different than what it was, what we expected, and what we already had,” she said.
Dorland said that vision of that new world is still present in the latest commercial, but the message surrounding the commercial, which included the title “Crash!”, was “probably the wrong way to say it.”
She added that it brought attention to what would otherwise have been an underwhelming update to one of the company's flagship products. “We're still talking about introducing an iPad that's a little smaller. So, despite the controversy, it's working.”
She noted that Apple may simply be trying to “reach new audiences who are using some of these tools to access some level of joy and creativity for the first time.” So maybe there's a real argument that Apple is on the way. After a new generation. ”
Is Apple's reputation changing?
Tom Binding, a marketing strategist in London, said that while there was a positive reaction to the ad, the widespread negative reaction to the ad is a sign of how Apple's reputation has changed. He pointed out that this tells the story.
“I think that in and of itself is very concerning for Apple, because they've shaped their brand around appealing to creators,” Binding said.
“In some ways, Apple is losing its relevance and place in the culture. [with] These are creative people,” Binding said. “And that's what's happening right now. It's probably what's been happening for the last 10 years.”
He pointed to Apple's dominance in the technology industry and its recent run-ins with antitrust regulators, including a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice accusing the company of orchestrating a monopoly in the smartphone market.
“There's an evolving sense that Apple is the bad guy, and Apple is not the friendly, creative, rebellious brand that we remember,” Binding said.
