Apple’s latest ad “Crush!” sparked controversy through Hollywood and beyond after it dropped on Tuesday. A commercial for the new iPad Pro depicted media across the spectrum – movies, TV, books, music, video games, etc. – being compressed into said iPad via a hydraulic press.
The company’s apparent sentiment of “look at all the things you can do from the ease of one device” didn’t land that way among a number of users, including actors and filmmakers. In fact, many read it as the tech industry encroaching destructively on the arts.
“The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” Hugh Grant wrote on X.
“Truly, what is wrong with you?” Justine Bateman replied to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“If you thought THIS iPad ad was weird, you should have seen the first cut where they lined up all your favorite characters and shot them,” actor, writer and producer Luke Barnett added to the chorus.
Cook was also active on X for the big reveal, writing, “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.”
“Like iPads but don’t know why anyone thought this ad was a good idea. It is the most honest metaphor for what tech companies do to the arts, to artists musicians, creators, writers, filmmakers: squeeze them, use them, not pay well, take everything then say it’s all created by them,” director/producer Asif Kapadia responded.
The new iPad Pro is available now for online order and will be available in stores May 15. Watch the “Crush!” ad, below:
