Following Apple’s apology over its controversial M4 iPad Pro advert aired to celebrate the launch of its new best iPad, Samsung has wasted no time in taking its own stab at Apple with a ‘#UnCrush’ advert mocking the Cupertino company’s marketing misstep, completely missing the point in the process.
Last week, Apple unveiled its brand new M4 iPad Pro alongside the new M2 iPad Air, Apple Pencil Pro, and a new Magic Keyboard at its May 7 ‘Let Loose’ event. The unveiling heralded the M4 chip, an OLED display, and a massive new 13-inch model of the iPad Air. However, the event was overshadowed somewhat by a strong reaction to Apple’s ‘Crush’ iPad advert. The advert, posted to YouTube and Tim Cook’s X feed, was also shown during the event itself. It depicts a plethora of tools and objects you might expect to find in an iPad, such as musical instruments, artistic utensils, and more, being crushed in a hydraulic press. While the advert was obviously supposed to depict Apple squashing a lot of creative power into the very thin chassis of the new iPad Pro, it drew a lot of criticism from commenters who described the image as cruel and dystopian.
Apple apologized for the advert and said it won’t run the piece on TV, but that hasn’t stopped Samsung from joining in the fun with a retort of its own that, at first glance, seems to have missed the point somewhat.
Second-best Samsung
Samsung’s new ad, captioned ‘We would never crush creativity’ and posted to X, depicts a young woman walking amongst the wreckage of what appears to be Apple’s hydraulic press stunt. She picks up a charred guitar and starts playing, using a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 to display her music.
Despite many folks who saw Apple’s advert apparently being put off by the wanton destruction of creative equipment depicted in the Crush advert, Samsung appears to have made just as much mess as Apple to create its own response. One commenter, noting the irony asked “So then how did that guitar get that way? You just found it like that?”
Perhaps more pertinent, however, is that Samsung seems to have missed the mark with the context of the advert itself. Namely, a world in which creators and artists feel threatened by the emergence of AI, particularly generative AI, as a viable alternative to human innovation and creativity. One interesting reply (which Samsung has hidden) notes “Samsung, you completely missed the main reason for the outrage against Apple’s “Crush” ad… AI is the whole reason why many creatives are so upset — in their view, it’s crushing creative industries.” Samsung’s advert ends with a note for the Galaxy Tab S9 Series “with Galaxy AI” plastered over a black background with delicious irony.
At launch, Apple touted the new iPad Pro as an “outrageously powerful device for AI,” thanks to its new M4 chip and the Neural Engine inside, which enables some pretty strenuous operations such as Scene Removal Mask in Final Cut Pro. Apple was largely muted, on the subject, however, and the big Apple AI reveal is not expected until WWDC 2024 and iOS 18 next month.
