Apple’s new iPad Pro ad shows hydraulic destruction of music gear – and people are furious
“The symbolism of indiscriminately crushing beautiful creative tools is an interesting choice.”
Credit: Apple
Apple just dropped the ad for the new iPad Pro, billed as its “thinnest ever” – and people are furious. That is, because it features a hydraulic press crushing and destroying thousands of pounds worth of music and studio gear.
The ad – which is actually rather ominous in tone, at least in the eyes of us music obsessives – sees a stash of equipment, including a trumpet, piano, guitars, computers, and a host of outboard gear – slowly be flattened under an enormous hydraulic press, soundtracked by All I Ever Need Is You by Sonny and Cher.
After a cringe-inducing 50 seconds of hydraulic destruction, the press raises to reveal the new iPad Pro, with the message: “The most powerful iPad ever is also the thinnest”.
Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we’ve ever created, the most advanced display we’ve ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create. pic.twitter.com/6PeGXNoKgG
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 7, 2024
Safe to say, the ad has stirred up quite the storm, with many condemning the Cupertino tech giant for its careless destruction of equipment that would be unaffordable to many.
Sterling Crispin, a software developer and former Neurotechnology Prototyping Researcher at Apple, replied to the ad posted to Tim Cook’s Twitter/X page: “Crushing symbols of human creativity and cultural achievements to appeal to pro creators, nice.
“Maybe for the next Apple Watch Pro you should crush sports equipment, show a robot running faster than a man, then turn to the camera and say, ‘God is dead and we have killed him.’”
Crushing symbols of human creativity and cultural achievements to appeal to pro creators, nice.
Maybe for the next Apple Watch Pro you should crush sports equipment, show a robot running faster than a man, then turn to the camera and say, "God is dead and we have killed him"
— Sterling Crispin 🕊️ (@sterlingcrispin) May 7, 2024
Another user writes: “The symbolism of indiscriminately crushing beautiful creative tools is an interesting choice.”
The symbolism of indiscriminately crushing beautiful creative tools is an interesting choice.
— Kiaran Ritchie (@kiaran_ritchie) May 7, 2024
One user even suggests the ad should have been delivered in reverse, so as to suggest all the musical and creative tools are “expanding out of the iPad rather than being crushed into it”, and shares the ad in reverse to showcase their point.
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!) pic.twitter.com/TZxzpuYzXu
— kepano (@kepano) May 8, 2024
Of course, in this day and age, controversy sells, and the commercial may very well have been a considered decision on Apple’s part. That said, the tech giant is one of the biggest companies in the world and a household name all over the world, so it’s odd that such a divisive marketing move would be deemed necessary.
It’s also evidence that Apple remains switched on to current trends in an effort to market to younger audiences; anyone who’s perused TikTok lately will likely be aware of the abundance of hydraulic press content on the platform.
To learn more about the new iPad Pro, head to Apple.
