Apple doesn't make mistakes often and rarely apologizes, but the company's advertising chief on Thursday said that when the company produces a new commercial for the iPad that shows an industrial compressor, a tool that flattens art, music and creativity. stated that there was an error.
“Creativity is in Apple's DNA, and designing products that empower creators around the world is extremely important to us,” Thor Millen, the company's vice president of marketing communications, told publication AdAge. This was stated in a statement. “Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad ways users can express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We apologize for missing the point in this video.”
Mullen said Apple will no longer run the ad on television.
The company calls the ad a metaphor for how Big Tech has made money off its creations by smashing and exploiting artistic tools that humans have used for centuries. As such, he faced a barrage of criticism from designers, actors, and artists.
They say trumpets, pianos, paints and sculptures are being shattered at a time when artists fear generative artificial intelligence that can write poetry and make movies will take their jobs. I felt particularly anxious.
With this ad, Apple intended to send the opposite message: that the ultra-thin iPad Pro can power a variety of creative activities that previously required separate tools.
Apple introduced an iPad commercial called “Crush” on Tuesday after revealing updates to its tablet lineup. 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 could be used to create,” he writes.
The reversal joins a series of rare apologies made by Apple over the past 15 years, including one in 2012 when Cook apologized for flaws in its new Maps app. Issues with the app included incorrect directions and incorrect locations of certain landmarks.
Mr. Cook's apology for Maps broke with Apple's previous policy of resisting pressure after mistakes. In 2010, Apple was criticized for releasing an iPhone that dropped calls. Steve Jobs, the company's co-founder and Mr. Cook's predecessor, doubled down on the attack, saying at a press conference that the problem was not the phones but the way some customers were holding them.
The company has been encouraging filmmakers, musicians and artists to use its devices for decades, but there was soon an outcry from those groups.