How Apple’s iPad Pro commercial went viral for the wrong reasons

Apple has a reputation for nailing its advertising. They rarely miss and more often than not, their ads have become staples in popular culture.

There was the iconic ‘1984’ Super Bowl ad they did with Chiat/Day that “changed the Super Bowl forever.” There was the iPod campaign from the 2000s that featured dancing silhouettes with brightly colored backgrounds. And then there was the Mac vs. PC campaign that saw 66 commercials air over the course of 3 years, personifying a Mac computer.

But recently, the tech giant had an uncharacteristic stumble in its advertising.

This week, Case Studied explores how Apple’s iPad Pro commercial went viral for all the wrong reasons.

The Brief:

At its “Let Loose” event in May, Apple (as expected) presented its new iPad Pro, describing it as its thinnest product ever. A commercial entitled Crush! followed the presentation… and it went viral pretty immediately. 

While the commercial was meant to showcase the new iPad and its creative capabilities, it drew widespread criticism from Apple’s core customer, the creative community and beyond. 

The Execution:

The commercial shows a pile of creative tools: a piano, spray paint cans, a dressmaker’s mannequin, a guitar. Everything is all sitting on a hydraulic press that slowly comes down and crushes all of the items. When the press reaches the bottom and reopens, the only thing left is the new, ultra thin iPad.

It’s clear to see what Apple’s creative team was going for here. The idea was about how all the capabilities of the creative tools were crushed and pressed into this really, really thin iPad. In other words, you can make music, paint, and take photos with it. 

But this messaging also alluded to the fact that the iPad will destroy (literally crush) those artistic mediums—and that message was not well received by Apple’s intended audience. 

Interestingly, Apple created this ad in-house, something that has the potential to be problematic, which we explored in Vol. 14 of Case Studied, detailing Pepsi’s disastrous Kendall Jenner ad.

This is a bit of a departure from some of the agency relationships that Apple has leaned on in the past, and a sign of the direction Apple is taking much of its creative work.

In fairness, to complement their own creative, Apple also commissioned TBWA\ Media Arts Lab Los Angeles, a long time partner of theirs, to create a second video titled “iPad Vs. Nano”, which is used to dub the new iPad, Apple’s thinnest product ever.

The Results:

While trying to showcase how great the new iPad is for creatives, Apple ticked off a lot of creatives. Hugh Grant called the commercial a “destruction of human experience.” Reed Morano, the director of Handmaid’s Tale, told Apple CEO Tim Cook to “read the room.”

A few brands even entered the chat. Arcade1Up, aka the maker of the retro arcade game machine featured in the Apple ad, shared an Instagram video that alluded to the controversial commercial. It shows someone trying to play an arcade game on a tablet, getting frustrated, and slamming it down before going to play on a retro console. The caption was, “Crush those annoying ads and notifications. Play arcade games the way they’re meant to be played!”

Samsung also created a response ad with BBH USA that shows what looks like the aftermath of Crush!. A person walks across the rubble of crushed creative tools, picks up a half-destroyed guitar, and starts playing it with sheet music shown on the Galaxy Tab S9 in front of them. The end caption says, “Creativity cannot be crushed” and Samsung used the hashtag #UnCrush on X when they shared it. 

Estefanio Holtz, the executive director for the BBH USA, called it, “More than a response, this is a celebration of all creative souls. True artists, makers, and creators know that creativity always finds a way.”

The commercial no doubt got an emotional reaction. People were sad and mad and jarred by the suggestion that human creativity could be replaced by tech like the iPad. The ad also came at a time of unease about the impact of AI on so many aspects of everyday life, including artistic expression. And these are very real, valid concerns. Plenty of visual artists, photographers, musicians, and writers are seeing their work be mimicked by AI. 

Apple apologized for the ad but didn’t take it down (probably knowing that it would still be alive online someway, somehow). Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice president of marketing, provided a statement to Ad Age saying the company “missed the mark.”

“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Myhren said in the 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.”

The Takeaways:

Dealing with an advertising misstep ain’t easy. And even though Apple is Apple, their iPad commercial reminded everyone that they’re human, too. Here are a few learnings to walk away with.

1. Don’t forget your brand roots

One of the top criticisms Apple received was about how Steve Jobs would’ve never let the iPad commercial fly. Apple built a brand that celebrates and relies on creativity, but that’s not the message of this commercial. 

It’s not enough to have a brand identity and ethos. You have to align every brand asset with that identity and ethos, consistently. Just like you’d do a brand safety check, do a brand identity check. 

2. Never alienate your customer

Creators have always been the hero in the story of Apple products. That is why there has been such a far cry of criticism related to their new ad, as it positions their iPad in conflict with other artistic mediums and the people who use them.

With storytelling being the most impactful tool in a marketers tool belt, you always want to make sure that your customer is at the center of your story, in a positive light.

3. External perspective matters

We obviously lack insight into what levels of scrutiny an ad like this goes through before being released. Considering Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world, it’s fair to assume it went through multiple rounds of reviews, focus groups and feedback before completion.

With that being said, the trend of in-house creative missing the mark is becoming more widespread as brands look to cut costs in the form of agency relationships.

While certain functions benefit from being staff internally, the benefits of leveraging external agency partners can’t be overstated and something brands should always consider when the creative stakes are this high.