Apple has apologized and admitted it “missed the mark” with its latest iPad Pro ad.
The ad, posted on social media Tuesday's ad from Apple CEO Tim Cook was met with backlash from web users who felt the ad celebrated technology's destruction of human creativity and art.
In an announcement about it sayingApple's vice chairman of promoting communications, Tor Myhren, apologized.
“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple and it’s incredibly important to us to build products that empower creatives everywhere. Our goal is to always celebrate the countless ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad,” said Myhren. “We missed the mark with this video and we are sorry.”
Apple confirmed the statement to AdAge but declined further comment.
The ad features symbols of human creativity, resembling musical instruments, paint cans, an 80s arcade video game and a bust of a human head crushed by an enormous hydraulic press. As the metal plates of the hydraulic press lift, Apple's recent iPad Pro is unveiled.
“Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we've ever created, the most advanced display we've ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine what will come of this,” Cook wrote in a post on X that accompanied the video.
Online response to the ad was immediate: “The symbolism of indiscriminately destroying beautiful creative tools is an interesting choice,” one social media user wrote. “This ad effectively convinced me that I need less technology in my life,” wrote one other.
Other users said the ad was in poor taste as fears grew that AI could replace staff – even those in creative fields. Actor Hugh Grant wrote On social media, Apple's promoting claimed that it represented “the destruction of the human experience.”
According to AdAge, Apple now not plans to run the ads on television.
The mea culpa was rare for Apple, although the ad was not deleted from Cook's X account.
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