Samsung has taken a big swipe at Apple, flighting a new ad that takes direct aim at its biggest rival’s “Crush” ad for its new iPad Pro models, which drew widespread criticism.
The Apple ad, for its new M4-powered iPad Pros launched last week, shows a giant industrial press crushing the tools used by creatives – tins of paint, musical instruments and an arcade machine.
After the press closes – and following a brief pause for dramatic effect – it lifts to reveal the new iPad, suggesting the “thinnest iPad ever” houses all the crushed tools inside its svelte body (just 5.1mm thick for the 13-inch model).
But it sparked a backlash on social media, with people saying the ad showed how Big Tech companies like Apple ride roughshod over the little guy – the exact opposite of the image the company tried to portray in its famous 1984 ad about fighting IBM, which at the time dominated the IT industry.
“Steve [Jobs] wouldn’t have shipped that ad. It would have pained him too much to watch,” Paul Graham, an early internet entrepreneur and founder of the Y Combinator start-up accelerator, tweeted in response to the ad.
But the backlash was not limited to tech luminaries. Celebrities also slammed Apple. “The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” tweeted Hugh Grant.
Apple quickly apologised for the ad, saying it “missed the mark”, and wouldn’t flight it on television, as it had originally intended.
We would never crush creativity. #UnCrush pic.twitter.com/qvlUqbRlnE
— Samsung Mobile US (@SamsungMobileUS) May 15, 2024
Samsung in the US – never shy to stick it to its rival – has now launched a parody of Apple’s “Crush” ad, aptly named “UnCrush”.
In Samsung’s ad, a woman finds inspiration in the mess left behind by the destruction left behind by Apple in its ad. With her Galaxy Tab S9 (with Galaxy AI), she makes music on a guitar, intimating that Samsung has more love for the creative community than its California-based rival. — (c) 2024 NewsCentral Media
