• As it turns out, crushing the tools humans have used to create art for centuries and revealing a cold emotionless computer, was a bad play.
• Apple’s Crush advert stoked the ire of creative types and Apple fans all over the world.
• The Cupertino colossus has had to apologise for the advert and will no longer broadcast it on TV.

On Tuesday Apple unveiled its latest generation of iPads and aside from a live event it also created a new advert for the slate.

The advert features an array of objects piled on top of each other before the viewer realises they are all piled on a crusher. The objects are slowly crushed between two pieces of metal, which ultimately lifts to reveal an iPad.

The concept appears to be that all of the objects showcased can be combined into one object, an iPad. Except that’s not how the internet saw it.

No sooner had the advert appeared online than the discourse began. Internet denizens interpreted the advert as modern technology crushing the artistic side of humanity, something that artificial intelligence has been accused of doing since platforms like Midjourney arrived on the scene.

“I’m not sure ‘wanton destruction of all the good and beautiful things is this world’ was really the vibe you were trying for,” said one X user.

Others have compared this to Apple’s famous 1984 commercial in which drab, industrialisation was replaced by vibrant creativity. In this latest ad, the opposite happens.

“Forty years ago, Apple released the 1984 commercial as a bold statement against a dystopian future. Now you are that dystopian future. Congratulations,” another user commented below Tim Apple’s post.

The discourse was immense and Apple had to address its terrible advert.

“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,” vice president of marketing communications at Apple, Tor Myhren told AdAge.

The advert will reportedly no longer be broadcast on TV.

What made this advert far worse was the fact that Apple is set to announce its AI play at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. AI has been replacing artists, musicians and writers for some time now and the fact that Apple – whose products are favoured by creative types – showed their tools being crushed, doesn’t inspire confidence.

That said, we very much doubt this will hurt Apple’s bottom line. Apple fans are a special breed and we doubt one advert will stop them from buying this new iPad when it launches later this month.