ARS Technica: Apple apologizes for ad that crushes the sum total of human artistic endeavor
But it's the apparently unintended subtext of the ad that has caused problems. Yesterday afternoon, the company issued a rare public apology for the ad following a social media uproar. Critics were upset both about the destruction of the objects themselves (whether those objects were physical or computer-generated or some mix of the two isn’t clear), and about the symbolism of a Big Tech company destroying art and the things used to create and consume art.
Watching this ad is like reading the unconscious impulses of a tech giant. It goes like this: “All these things that fulfil your lives are garbage — just buy our new shiny screen and throw your passions into the crusher”.
It precisely summarises how creatives have been flattened by these overgrown corporate parasites. Did no one at Apple stop to consider the obvious symbolism? The total lack of tact and awareness is a great punchline.
“Think Different”.