Apple apologises for iPad Pro advert that crushed vintage musical instruments: “We missed the mark”

10 May, 2024

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple has apologised for “missing the mark” with their new iPod Pro advert, in which vintage musical instruments and equipment are crushed.

The advert caused controversy among music fans after being shared by company CEO Tim Cook this week. It shows vintage guitars, pianos, trumpets and metronomes, as well as turntables, speakers and arcade games being crushed, backed by a soundtrack of Sonny & Cher’s ‘All I Need Is You’.

“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 image all the things it’ll be used to create,” Cook wrote on X.

Watch the trailer below:

After a significant backlash against the sentiments in the advert, Apple have now issued a formal apology.

Apple’s vice president of marketing communications Tor Myhren said: “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.”

Responses to the advert’s unveiling earlier in the week included one who wrote: “Can’t recall the last time I saw a promo that so immediately and completely turned me against the product it was supposed to be selling. Catastrophically awful. Genuinely dystopian. Holy shit.”

Hugh Grant also chimed in, describing it as “the destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley.”

See a collection of outraged reactions to the advert here.

Meanwhile, in January, the tech giant confirmed it will pay artists higher royalties for music made available in spatial audio.

Starting in January, artists can receive a 10 per cent higher royalty rate for spatial audio music, which is essentially defined as virtual surround sound, and was made available in June 2021 at no additional cost.

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