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Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

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Re: Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

#31

Post by refulgentis »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #10

I thought the ad was great but to actually have to apologize for it ?? I am a self admitted Apple fanboy but while I don’t see eye to eye on this I really don’t see the offensiveness . But in the grand scheme of things it might sell more iPads due to the Streisand effect.

When I was a young'n, Apple was very big on treating artists and creatives as a set of people they were humbled to have stumbled into helping.

Marketing was driven by ideas like avoiding "speeds and feeds", in the words of Steve, and emotionally connecting with users: ex. famous lore is an Apple ad is never "Buy the New Galaxy Plus Pro S6 with the 120 megapixel 240x Zoom!" it's "Soft tinkling music as smiling father takes video of 5 year old sledding down hill in snow"

I'm not saying they always obeyed those principles in every single ad until yesterday, but you'd be hard pressed (lol) to explain to someone a decade ago why Apple's first ad for a once-in-3-years iPad launch was...crushing a bunch of creative tools to communicate they shaved half a millimeter off.

It's funny being old because the thing that confuses me is why people have reactions to reactions, ex. people saying "based, why should they have to apologize anyway, it wasn't offensive"...it clearly wasn't offensive in that sense! It was just bizarrely off-brand.

Re: Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

#32

Post by blargey »

thorum wrote: post #15
noitpmeder wrote: post #8

It's a bit insane to me that Apple felt the need to "apologize"... so they made a crappy AD that didn't appeal to some audiences... is this really grounds for retractions/apologies these days?

It didn’t just not appeal to some audiences. It actively alienated one of the primary audiences of their product. Of course that requires a response.

I'm confused about the confusion, really. It's not hard to imagine how "tech company compressing all your traditional art tools into a blackbox" imagery would have struck some nerves that were already rubbed raw by the AI-Art Discourse.

It's not just general sensibilities, it's comically topical.

Re: Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

#35

Post by thsksbd »

spiderice wrote: post #14

I’m just happy to see the overwhelming consensus on the internet is “apologizing for what”. Apple shouldn’t be apologizing at all. The add was cool.

Cool? Putting aside the controversial content, the aesthetic was cliche. Same edgy lighting, same colors saturation. It was terrible.

Re: Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

#36

Post by pesfandiar »

tharkun__ wrote: post #20
noitpmeder wrote: post #8

It's a bit insane to me that Apple felt the need to "apologize"... so they made a crappy AD that didn't appeal to some audiences... is this really grounds for retractions/apologies these days?

I had no idea this ad existed until this came through here. But having watched it: seems totally fine. They're just playing "earth". To make diamonds you apply pressure. The iPad is the diamond resulting from crushing all that creativity into a tiny form factor. Or something like that.

The ad had multiple shots where the creative tools were crushed. There was too much emphasis on destruction as opposed to compression.

Re: Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

#37

Post by Vt71fcAqt7 »

OhioMan2943 wrote: post #22
spiderice wrote: post #14

I’m just happy to see the overwhelming consensus on the internet is “apologizing for what”. Apple shouldn’t be apologizing at all. The add was cool.

[flagged]

I flaged this post because it seems to violate HN's guidelines. Am I missing some context here?

Re: Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

#38

Post by madrox »

This really shows how much sentiments about technology have changed in the last five or so years. If this ad came out in 2018 it would have been received differently, I think. The buzz has worn off. People don't see doing everything on your device as progress. iPads are no longer novel.

Apple has been so used to growing new markets that I don't think they even know how to market when they're on top. All their best ads have been when using their products speaks to being a rebel. Nowadays the least rebellious thing you could be is an Apple user.

Re: Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad that 'missed the mark'

#40

Post by superb_dev »

edkennedy wrote: post #28

Missing from this extremely short and underreported article is how badly this played out in Japanese market. The culture they have states that musical instruments, creative tools have some energy and imbued sense of spirit to them. So destroying these elements of culture is really really blunt and gauche to them. The majority of the push back came from Japanese people, and then artists empathizing with their sentimen…

Given that context, it’s nuts that this ad was approved for the Japanese market
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