Crushing stupidity! Apple under fire for destructive iPad ad
APPLE has been condemned for an advert in which musical instruments and books are smashed to pieces and replaced by the new iPad Pro.
Actor Hugh Grant was among many to criticise the tech giant, joining a fierce online backlash.
The one-minute clip, originally posted on X by Apple chief executive Tim Cook, shows creative and artistic tools being brutally crushed by a metal industrial press.
A guitar, piano and trumpet are among the musical instruments to be destroyed, along with books, sculptures, paints, toys, a record player and an arcade game. The machine then lifts up to reveal a sleek new iPad Pro tablet, which is going on sale for up to £1,299.
The advert is supposed to showcase the device’s capabilities, from playing music to writing documents and producing artworks, but it has drawn a furious response.
Grant wrote on X: ‘The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley.’
When someone replied adding, ‘And the destruction of childhood’, the actor responded: ‘Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I could go on.’
One X user called it ‘an absolutely tone-deaf and insulting ad’, while another wrote: ‘The fact you chose to destroy things that could have been used by properly talented people speaks volumes about you, your company, and the state of things.’
Another posted: ‘Apple providing the perfect metaphor for what’s happening to creative arts and humanities, and then mistakenly thinking it’s a good look for an advert.’
The new iPad is the thinnest Apple has made, at 5.1mm thick. The 11inch version will cost £999 in Britain, while the 13-inch version is £1,299.
Apple hopes it will revive its iPad range, which once sold 25million in a year but now accounts for only 6 per cent of the company’s sales.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment on the advert.