The company told AdAge, “We missed the point with this video, and we are sorry.”
It has been claimed that Apple has issued an apology for their tone-deaf advertisement titled “Crush!” which brought about a violent outcry from musicians, artists, and other creative. According to AdAge, Apple has stated that the video “missed the mark” and has decided to abandon their intentions to air the commercial with cutesy-turned-cringey content on television.
It is very evident that Apple intended for the advertisement to fulfill the function of a metaphor for the numerous creative tools that are available to anyone who spend at least one thousand dollars on a new iPad Pro. An assortment of musical instruments and other tools for human expression are displayed in the film that is played throughout the event that takes place on Tuesday. These include a guitar, drums, trumpet, amplifiers, record player, television, and a great deal more. In the background of the video is the song “All I Ever Need Is You” by Sonny and Cher.
As time goes on, it becomes clear that all of the items are positioned on top of an industrial crusher. The crusher then descends upon the dispersed artistic instruments, causing them to explode in plumes of smoke that are a pleasingly colorful variety. However, when the crusher is brought back up to speed, we notice that everything has been turned into a brand new iPad Pro product.
If this advertisement had been released ten years ago, it most likely would not have been a big deal. However, Apple’s marketers made a total and utter blunder regarding the context of the situation. A few weeks before Apple is scheduled to take the stage at WWDC to introduce new generative artificial intelligence features, which its investors have been eagerly anticipating, the advertisement has debuted.
Generative artificial intelligence, as you may have heard, need something to train on, and that something is the labor that humans do. The system is able to learn from previously created information in order to generate text, pictures, music, voices, and possibly even other things using an algorithm. As corporations and consumers eagerly adopt the robots that are destined to put creators on the unemployment line, it also has the possibility of putting those same creators out of work. The majority of these creators do not have lucrative jobs at Apple or any of the other Big Five technology giants.
There is no such thing as context, and Apple has failed miserably in this regard. The advertisement serves as a wonderful metaphor for the potential of generative artificial intelligence to destroy human creativity, transforming all of us into “prompt artists” who enter phrases into text boxes to replace the years of training and experience that those individuals have gained. (While it is true that generative artificial intelligence has applications that are very fascinating, there is a great deal more that has to be made of the chaos that it may and will unleash on the level of society.)
“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it is extremely important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Tor Myhren, the Vice President of Marketing Communications at Apple, said in an interview with AdAge. We want to always appreciate the myriad of ways in which iPad users express themselves and bring their ideas to life. This is our mission. This video was not up to our standards, and we sincerely apologize for that.
Yes, an apology does have some significance. This month, however, Apple will roll out the tools that set the scenario for the apology in the first place, and we will be able to observe the tone that the company chooses to adopt. Some part of me has the impression that the train has already left the station and will continue to go forward at full speed, regardless of how much ingenuity the company possesses in its very foundation.