Apple released a short film titled “Crush” to coincide with the launch of the new 13-inch iPad Pro. Unfortunately, Apple seems unable to nail it in that direction.
To the tune of Sonny and Cher All I Ever Need Is YouIn the film, towers of everyday and analog items such as paints, metronomes, and arcade machines are crushed by hydraulic presses, with slow-motion and close-up shots used for dramatic effect.
The press then opens to reveal the thinnest iPad ever made, highlighting the vast features and capabilities of the new M4 chip. However, after the iPad Pro commercial was released, sentiment towards Apple's iPad series declined.
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According to media intelligence firm CARMA, wording associated with Apple's iPad was initially mostly positive, with words like “expensive,” “value,” and “featured.” In contrast, after the Crush ad, sentiment towards Apple's iPad dropped to 50.8% positive and 19.7% negative. Brand-related words included a mix of words such as “incredible” and “vibrant,” alongside words such as “concerned,” “angry,” and “bad.”
According to replies seen on Apple CEO Tim Cook's post to . “This video doesn't resonate with me at all. It shows a lack of respect for creative equipment and mocks creators. I don't want to align myself with the values portrayed in this video. What would you think if you saw it?'' one user said.
What went wrong?
There are countless videos posted online of people randomly putting everyday items through hydraulic presses or rolling bottles of glitter down stairs, but this isn't an issue of waste, it's a backlash against the message of the ad. is producing.
“Either create on your iPad or don't create at all,” says the ad, which makes people acutely aware of their mental health and return to analogue activities in search of a more fulfilling, less damaging creative experience. It completely ignores the fact that more and more young people are
For Moore, the ad blatantly ignores the current rise of analog items, such as the increased sales of vinyl records as artists release multiple variations, and Apple's iPad, which allows creators to create. It is positioned as the only method, and the following elements are added.
Apple was once a computer for creative people, but this ad shows a fundamental misunderstanding of creative people, who are inherently rebellious and not inclined to submit themselves to any company.
Shuvik Prasanna Mukherjee, chief creative officer at Golin Asia Pacific, said that by following the hydraulic press video trend, Apple had an opportunity to communicate something meaningful to humanity, but it failed. “I think the intended message was to show that all the tools of human creativity have been compressed into a tablet, but the dystopian depiction shows that all of human creativity has been compressed into gadgets. It felt like,” he said. addition:
As a fan, I was hoping for a liberating development in the story, but instead it felt like a disappointing antithesis to the classic 1984 ad.
Despite the availability of AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bard, Anthropic's Claude, and now Meta's Generated AI Ads, 40% of Singapore's workers are unsure about the AI systems they see today. I don't trust the data used for training. According to Salesforce's latest research, “AI Trust Index.'' 58% of workers fear humans will lose control of AI, and 94% currently do not trust AI to operate without human supervision, which is slightly below the global average of 90%. Apple's iPad commercials stoke fears of AI takeover and labor shortages. Trust in new technology.
“People are worried about losing their jobs to AI, and worried about their creativity being unethically outsourced to algorithms. This ad seemed like another strain on what is human. ” Mukherjee further explained.
He also said, “Apple is known for making computing personal and liberating, and this seemed to be the exact opposite, so there was a lot of backlash from fans and beyond.” .
Mukherjee agrees with Robert Gaxiola, managing partner of PLAYBOOK XP. He thought the ad was well shot, but failed to read the atmosphere amid concerns that the human workforce would become obsolete in the digital age.
“This ad breaks down a lot of the real human experience that people feel is being replaced too quickly by AI, software, and technology, so I think this ad is going to disturb some people out there. I knew it would be upsetting,” Gaxiola added. “I think it might call into question some notions of what people bestow as sacred or consider valuable. The idea is that all these nice features can be combined into a flat “It's being pushed into a thin product. But people don't love the brutality of this metaphor,” he also said.
On the other hand, the cruel metaphor resonated with consumers because of how it got its point across.
“It may be a bit morbid, but it reminded me of a murder scene you might see in a movie.” gentleman” he explained. Fiona Bartolomeusch, Managing Director, Formula8. “Apple always strives to be thought-provoking and simple in its execution, and that's what they do here. I'm definitely going to buy a new iPad right now.”
Aside from the inconsistent use of Sonny and Cher's music, Bartolomeusch says people may be reading too much into this ad and that Apple can't satisfy every customer with every ad. I'm thinking of becoming deaf.
“I think we're in this state of woke life where it's cool to feel outraged about everything. We're almost in a no-do-anything period right now.” she said, adding:
I think creators, artists, musicians, etc. need to not read too much into the symbolism of this ad. It does not reflect the commercial tyranny of today's large corporations.
Bartolomeusz said Apple may also be suffering from a huge success that attracts haters who seek to undermine its innovative efforts.
“Honestly, I think people in general just want to criticize Apple for Apple's sake. Whenever Apple does something good, they get ridiculed for lacking integrity and creativity. In this case. , it's clearly a metaphor for the tech industry “squeezing the life out of culture, humanity, and art,'' she said.
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