ICYMI, Apple recently announced new products in their line-up, including the new iPad Pro. Which is all well and good, until they played the iPad Pro’s commercial, drawing the ire of people all over the world.

Apple’s controversial iPad Pro ad

Released last Tuesday, the iPad Pro ad titled “Crush!” is simple.

An industrial press literally crushes an array of creative and cultural objects, such as a TV, record player, musical instruments, cameras, books, paint cans, a typewriter, an arcade machine, and more. In the end, as the industrial press comes up, the debris is gone and replaced instead with the new iPad Pro. A voiceover tells the viewer: “The most powerful iPad is also the thinnest.”

The ad drew flak from creatives all over the world

Well, the ad did get people’s attention — but not in a good way. Many members of various creative industries expressed disappointment and anger over what they consider a blatant disregard and disrespect for creative and cultural tools and the people who use them.

Actor Hugh Grant’s criticism was brief yet powerful: “The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley.”

It only emphasized the current crisis of tech ‘crushing’ creatives

Photographer Jingna Zhang said the ad was “painful to watch, especially given the current climate of artists being crushed by the unrelenting decimation of the arts by generative AI,” a sentiment echoed online by many creatives worldwide.

“This horror perfectly encapsulates the feeling of life as the powerful wreak escalatingly careless and clueless destruction,” said author Jared Yates Sexton.

It defeats its own purpose

One X (formerly Twitter) user said the ad just “turned me against the product,” doing the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do.

Another netizen pointed out that the ad ironically proves how easily breakable things are, especially the “thinnest iPad ever.”

Apple apologizes

Following the strong backlash, Apple issued an apology for the controversial ad.

“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” said Apple VP of Marketing Communications Tor Myrgen in a statement.

“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”

As of writing, the ad is still up on Youtube with over a million views and on Apple CEO Tim Cook’s X (formerly Twitter) account with over 56 million views.

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