Apple doesn't make mistakes often and rarely apologizes. But on Thursday, an advertising executive said Apple made a mistake in a new iPad ad that showed an industrial compressor crushing tools for art, music and creativity.
“Creativity is in Apple’s DNA, and designing products that empower creative people around the world is extremely important to us,” Tor Myhren, the company’s vice president of marketing and communications, said in a statement provided to AdAge. “Our goal has always been to celebrate the countless ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life on iPad. “We missed the mark with this video. We’re sorry.”
Myhren said Apple will no longer run ads on TV.
The company faced fierce criticism from designers, actors and artists who saw the ad as a metaphor for how the tech giants have exploited their work by crushing or co-opting artistic tools that humans have used for centuries.
Destroying trumpets, pianos, paintings and sculptures seemed especially embarrassing in an age when artists fear that generative artificial intelligence that can write poetry and make movies will usurp their jobs.
Apple tried to send the opposite message in its ads: that the ultra-thin iPad Pro could power a variety of creative activities that previously required separate tools.
Apple released an iPad ad called 'Crush' on Tuesday after unveiling updates to its tablet line. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a post about the X that it is a thin, advanced and powerful device. “Imagine all the things it would be used for,” he wrote.
This setback adds to a series of occasional apologies from Apple over the past 15 years, including an apology in 2012 for shortcomings in Cook's new Maps app. Issues with the app included incorrect orientation and incorrect location of certain landmarks.
Cook's apology for the guidance was a departure from Apple's previous policy of resisting pressure after mistakes. In 2010, Apple was criticized for releasing the iPhone, which suffered from dropped calls. Steve Jobs, the company's co-founder and Cook's predecessor, went on the offensive at a press conference, saying the problem was not the phone, but the way some customers held it.
The company, which has encouraged filmmakers, musicians and artists to use its devices for decades, heard immediate protests from those groups.
Trip Mickle He reports on Apple and Silicon Valley for the Times and lives in San Francisco. His work at Apple focuses on product launches, manufacturing issues, and political challenges. He also writes about several trends in the tech industry, including layoff processes, generative artificial intelligence, and robotaxis. More from Tripp Mickle