In the world of mobile devices, there's no bigger rivalry than the one between Aple and Samsung. When Apple missteps, Samsung always seems to be waiting in the wings with some sort of response.
Case in point: Apple recently came under fire for its Crush iPad ad that shows all kinds of tools of human creativity being crushed and replaced with the latest iPad. The backlash came from people upset at Apple for the seemingly callous way the company dismissed human creativity, especially at a time when advances in artificial intelligence are seemingly threatening to do just that.
Apple may have apologized, conceding its ad "missed the mark," but that hasn't stopped Samsung from responding with an ad of its own, which subtly knocks the intentions behind Apple's commercial while promoting the power of its own product.
Samsung's ad is simple but gets the point across well enough. A musician picks up a badly damaged guitar from a pile of crushed items and starts playing. Musical notation is shown on a screen (which happens to be a Samsung Tab S9, as indicated by the Samsung logo on the back of the device later in the ad). The words "Creativity cannot be crushed" then pop onto the screen. The ad fades to black, but not before touting the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy AI.
As seen in the video above, the musician at the center of the ad sits on a platform with colors bleeding all over, reminiscent of the mess at the end of Apple's iPad ad. It's a subtle but compelling ad for those who know what Samsung is getting at.
Whether Samsung actually disagrees with Apple's ad is another question, but the company is sending the right message in the current climate. Will Apple's ad negatively affect iPad sales? Probably not. By all accounts, including our own iPad Pro 2024 review, the new tablet is an incredible device, and it'll sell just fine. But it's interesting to see the fallout from the ad giving Apple's top rival a chance to get its licks in.
