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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'

#871

Post by xadhominemx »

JohnFen wrote: post #590
maxrobeyns wrote: post #506

My initial reaction to the ad, upon watching it in the launch event was "huh, that's a fun reference to the Hydraulic Press Channel". The slapstick elements (trumpet noise, squishy balls) made it come across as light-hearted, rather than an ominous display of force by a large company crushing artists' tools. This idea of 'squashing all these tools down to a thin slab of glass' made sense given their somewhat unusual…

The clear meaning I got from the ad was: we want to destroy everything and make you buy our product instead. I know that wasn't what they were going for (I'm pretty sure, anyway), but it's very hard for me to interpret it differently. I never connected it to the hydraulic press channel at all for some reason.

Yes, that was what the ad depicted but obviously that was not the meaning of the ad. The ad was a metaphor.

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

#872

Post by dnissley »

JohnFen wrote: post #590
maxrobeyns wrote: post #506

My initial reaction to the ad, upon watching it in the launch event was "huh, that's a fun reference to the Hydraulic Press Channel". The slapstick elements (trumpet noise, squishy balls) made it come across as light-hearted, rather than an ominous display of force by a large company crushing artists' tools. This idea of 'squashing all these tools down to a thin slab of glass' made sense given their somewhat unusual…

The clear meaning I got from the ad was: we want to destroy everything and make you buy our product instead. I know that wasn't what they were going for (I'm pretty sure, anyway), but it's very hard for me to interpret it differently. I never connected it to the hydraulic press channel at all for some reason.

Maybe you can go into that more. Where's that intuition coming from that tells you "Apple wants to destroy everything"?

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

#873

Post by Brian_K_White »

__turbobrew__ wrote: post #700
some_random wrote: post #670

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the big thing here is that if you don't have an attachment to any of the items being crushed you probably don't feel as strongly. If you're a trumpet player, seeing a trumpet being crushed is going to be a bit distressing. If you're a photographer, you're putting a monetary value on those lenses being destroyed. If you're into old arcade machines, you're thinking about how many of those cabinets are left in t…

I don’t think it is healthy if you are emotionally distressed seeing a trumpet being crushed.

I don't think it's healthy to have so little perception or understanding and think think everything is that simple.

No one is traumatized. It's just unappealing and tone-deaf that's all. Showing a harmless little toy head and face getting squished and then popped, and presenting that as cool and fun and good, just makes you wonder about the person who produced that imagery and thought it could possibly have those associations, that's all.

Showing a bunch of mixed colors of paint oozing down the side of something is not "emotionally distressing", it's just unappealing, especially to Apple product customers, who buy Apple products precicely because they are sleek and minimalist and clean. Steve's & Ive's entire universe was clean & sterile.

It's remarkable because Apple are supposed to be the KINGS of exactly those sorts of intangible things like impression & subconscious reaction, where things like a 0.1mm or 0.1degree difference in a shape actually matters.

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

#877

Post by firebat45 »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #689
some_random wrote: post #670

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the big thing here is that if you don't have an attachment to any of the items being crushed you probably don't feel as strongly. If you're a trumpet player, seeing a trumpet being crushed is going to be a bit distressing. If you're a photographer, you're putting a monetary value on those lenses being destroyed. If you're into old arcade machines, you're thinking about how many of those cabinets are left in t…

The arcade one particularly distressing given that arcades and their unique arcade hardware are rapidly vanishing across the world without replacement.

I understand that there is an entire culture surrounding these machines and that people enjoy collecting and restoring them. Hell, I would even like to build a cabinet myself one day.

But there's a reason they are disappearing. They're old and obsolete. While they may have value to a niche group, they are overall viewed as mostly worthless.

Secondly, there's a very simple solution to disliking what someone else does with their own property. Purchase it before they do whatever you dislike. Either from them or by beating them to the punch and buying it from the previous owner before they do.

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

#878

Post by lubesGordi »

shmageggy wrote: post #156
brundolf wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not Japanese and it was upsetting to me Not because eg one piano got destroyed; surely that happens all the time, even on camera for eg movies and such. But there was something about watching beautiful objects be destroyed, in slow motion, gratuitously, and with an upbeat/sunny tone, that just aesthetically made me squirm in my seat

It goes beyond aesthetics for me. It's like they took everyone's deepest fears about technology and AI, that it will replace or "crush" authentic human experience and creativity, and they just embraced and celebrate it by literally crushing representations of human creativity. At least I'm glad the corporate types were actually honest about their goals, though, instead of their typical doublespeak

Its such a testament to how indoctrinated and homogeneous that environment is.

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

#879

Post by kenjackson »

maxrobeyns wrote: post #506

My initial reaction to the ad, upon watching it in the launch event was "huh, that's a fun reference to the Hydraulic Press Channel". The slapstick elements (trumpet noise, squishy balls) made it come across as light-hearted, rather than an ominous display of force by a large company crushing artists' tools. This idea of 'squashing all these tools down to a thin slab of glass' made sense given their somewhat unusual…

This outrage feels so manufactured. I'm a huge basketball fan, coach, ex-player. If they included a basketball in the ad my thought would've been "yeah, you can play NBA2k on it". I'm not mad about the destruction of a single basketball. I don't feel like its disrespect to the game. It's showing that this single device has captured elements of basketball into a small form factor.

As you note this may hint at a larger weariness with big tech -- and I tend to agree. I feel like if it was a public library crushing a bunch of things, and then ends with it lifting up and showing a library card there wouldn't be the same concerns.

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

#880

Post by steve1977 »

JohnFen wrote: post #590
maxrobeyns wrote: post #506

My initial reaction to the ad, upon watching it in the launch event was "huh, that's a fun reference to the Hydraulic Press Channel". The slapstick elements (trumpet noise, squishy balls) made it come across as light-hearted, rather than an ominous display of force by a large company crushing artists' tools. This idea of 'squashing all these tools down to a thin slab of glass' made sense given their somewhat unusual…

The clear meaning I got from the ad was: we want to destroy everything and make you buy our product instead. I know that wasn't what they were going for (I'm pretty sure, anyway), but it's very hard for me to interpret it differently. I never connected it to the hydraulic press channel at all for some reason.

At least I know now what HP channel means, I was wondering how Hewlett Packard was involved in all of this… I‘m getting old…
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