welcom to America today with a new article about Apple’s ‘Disturbing’ iPad Ad of Destruction Strikes Nerve
A newly released ad promoting Apple’s new iPad Pro has struck quite a nerve online.
“The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” actor Hugh Grant wrote on the social media platform X, in a repost of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s sharing of the ad. Some found the ad to be a telling metaphor of the industry today – particularly concerns about big tech negatively impacting creatives.
Filmmaker Justine Bateman wrote on X that the commercial “Crushes the arts.” Experts added that the commercial marked a notable difference to marketing seen from Apple in the past – which has often taken more positive or uplifting approaches.
Graves pointed to Apple’s famous 1984 ad introducing the Macintosh computer, which he said focused more on uplifting creativity and thinking outside of the box as a unique individual.
In contrast, Graves added, “This commercial says, ‘No, we’re going to take all the creativity in the world and use a hydraulic press to push it down into one device that everyone uses.'” Apple did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment Thursday.
Apple is trying to juice demand for iPads after its sales of the tablets plunged 17% from last year during the January-March period.
After its 2010 debut helped redefine the tablet market, the iPad has become a minor contributor to Apple’s success.
Apple’s iPad Ad of Destruction: Impact and Controversy
Apple’s “Fifty Thousand” iPad commercial showcases the different potential uses of the device by following around a user intent on delivering a last-minute online order. It’s truly a crowd-pleaser and comes after over 100,000 pre-orders and amidst projections by industry analysts of over 7 million units moved by the end of the first year of the iPad.
People just can’t stop thinking about the thing. Yet, the ad’s narrative is jarring: the main user is often indifferent to the people around him, he doesn’t worry about the limitations of their recently adopted resource, and damages the city parks while racing through them, among other things. Apple is generally one of the most brand-aware, branding-obsessed companies and surely it must be conscious of the possible interpretation of their ad.
Apple’s command over public sentiment has kept the ad notice in general acceptance; however, it remains one of the most controversial ads in the tech world. Given Apple’s recent trend of asserting itself against the iPhone modding community and the company’s very defensive position towards its intellectual property, the new iPad ad prompts several questions: Could it be that Apple is in denial of the ad’s message? Is Apple aware of the message? But more importantly for personas’ interests, what potential controversy within the ad is really about?
Apple has enjoyed unprecedented success in recent years and seems to have the golden touch within the technology industry, as the latest iPad shows. Nowhere is this touch more apparent than with its new presence. The launch on April 3rd of the latest in the string of game-changers unleashed by Apple, the iPad, was the focus of the tech world.
It is seen as both the herald of new kinds of computing and the eventual transaction point between the traditional PC and the mobile phone. Several studies indicating that the iPad brand is quickly reaching the kind of level that the iPod and iPhone took years to reach further prove that Apple has yet another winner in its hands. It is not obvious, however, if that success is to be the result of Apple’s marketing department acting throughout an entrenched belligerence. Evidence to suggest that indeed it is just that may be found in Apple’s own iPad commercial.