Apple’s audible “Crush!” apologized for. an ad that sparked outrage among artists, musicians and other creatives. AdAge informs that Apple reported the video “Missed the mark” and scrapped plans to run a cute ad on TV.
It’s clear that the Apple ad is meant to serve as a metaphor for all the many creative tools it has when it drops. $1,000 or more for a new iPad Pro. escape during Tuesday event, the video shows an array of musical instruments and other tools for human expression, including guitars, drums, trumpets, amplifiers, a record player, a television, and more. “All I Ever Need Is You” by Sonny & Cher provides the music for the video.
It’s soon revealed that the objects are all sitting in an industrial crusher, exploding in plumes of satisfyingly colored smoke that descend on the scattered creative tools. But when the shocker pulls back, we see everything turned around the shiny new iPad Pro.
Ten years ago, this ad probably wouldn’t have been a big deal. But Apple’s marketers absolutely whined in the context of the moment. The ad comes weeks before Apple Take the stage at WWDC announcing generative AI features that have investors salivating.
Generative AI, as you may have heard, needs something to train on — and that means human work. It learns algorithmically generated words, images, music, sounds, or whatever else it knows from existing content. It also has the potential to put those same creators — many of whom don’t have cushy jobs at Apple or other Big Five tech companies — out of a job as corporations and consumers eagerly embrace robots designed to put creators on the unemployment line.
Context is everything, and Apple has failed spectacularly there. His ad serves as a perfect metaphor for the potential of generative AI to crush human creativity, turning us all into “quick artists” typing words into text boxes to replace years of training and experience. (Of course there is generative AI really interesting applicationsbut much more needs to be done at the societal level that chaos can and will reveal.)
“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and designing products that empower creatives around the world is incredibly important to us,” said Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice president of marketing communications. AdAge. “Our goal is always to celebrate the countless ways users can express themselves and bring their ideas to life with iPad. We missed the target with this video and we are sorry.”
Hey, an apology means something. But we’ll see what tone Apple takes next month when it unveils the tools that set the stage for an apology. Something tells me the train has left the station and will be full steam ahead no matter how much creativity is in the company’s DNA.
