Apple's Crush crash

Unless you truly believe that there's no such thing a bad publicity, the introduction of the new iPad Pro is likely the worst video ad ever made by Appl

By Ariella Brown

*See the P.S. added on May 10th below.

Unless you truly believe that there's no such thing a bad publicity, this is likely the worst video ever created for Apple and is a very good contender for worst ad ever.

As far as views and awareness, it's definitely a winner, having garnered  over 36 million views, 26K+ reposts, and 10K comments within 2 days. 

But in terms of sentiment it has aroused, it's a major marketing fail.

I'm saying this based on the overwhelmingly negative reaction it has inspired. Comments are turned off on YouTube, which usually indicates a deluge of negativity. But they're not off on X where every single reaction to Tim Cook's post I've read out of the thousands posted has been  negative. 

See some samples below.

@JuddBaroff

·I’m not sure ‘wanton destruction of all the good and beautiful things is this world’ was really the vibe you were trying for.

@kepano

·

I think the ad would work much better if it was reversed. All the objects should be expanding out of the iPad rather than being crushed into it made this edited version in five minutes (thanks iMovie!)

Geoffrey Miller

@primalpoly

This is the most ghoulish, tone-deaf ad I've ever seen in my life. Fire all of your marketers. This is utterly catastrophic for your brand.

Jash Dholani

@oldbooksguy

·

Everything beautiful, charming, and analog will be destroyed by a flat black screen You must never see a sculpted bust Never hear music from an actual instrument Never feel the texture of real things A silicon slab (and Tim Cook) will permanently stand between u and the world

*P.S.  I reported on the backlash to the Apple ad  on LinkedIn before AdAge did, yet that publication is the one that got the statement of apology from from Tor Myhren, Apple's VP of marketing communications. Of course, it descends into corporate blah blah before getting the point of confessing that they messed up big-time. 

The full text of the statement as reported in Inc. Magazine's quote is:

Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world. 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

There is no way a company would have issued an apology like that if the negative reaction had not been this strong. 

Related:

Major Marketing Missteps from Adidas, M&M's and Coke

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