Ex-Apple Employee Reaction to the CRUSH! Ad

A few people have reached out and asked my thoughts on this ad, so I rushed out a very quick honest reaction video with some thoughts about it. (I have a very busy day on, but wanted to address this while it's current).
Watch the full ad here: • Crush! | iPad Pro | Apple
For an awesome deep-dive look at this ad and why it is striking a nerve so much check out • Musician Reacts to App... from ‪@jimkroft‬ which is such a deep & thoughtful analysis go why Crush! really hurt.
There's a brief pause where I put some text on screen to clarify what I did at Apple, as the thought trailed off... sorry... it keeps going and gets to the point after that.
I do prefer Apple to the competition so I'm sure in many people's eyes that will make me biased.. and of course I worked there a decade ago too. Sure it's not their finest work (though it is well produced) but Apple have a long history of supporting Creativity & the Arts that is hard to ignore too!
They definitely missed the mark with the tone of it and the "destruction-porn" style shots, but WOW I think people are overreacting too.
#Apple #Advertising #Crush #Video #iPad #creative #creativity #exploringcreativity

[@nickdlf]

Hey Everyone, for an incredibly nuanced, thoughtful take on the Apple ad that explores the ways this really struck on nerve on a deeper level for so many people in the current cultural climate so well! check out this awesome and truly thought provoking video from @jimkroft kzbin.info/www/bejne/rH_ZqZt8ecSIeac

[@jimkroft]

You’re such a legend Nick! 🙏

[@phototristan]

An easy fix could have been to start with showing the thin iPad and then play that clip in reverse

[@nickdlf]

Yeah 100%, I think The idea of the iPad expanding out to become all of these incredible things suddenly becomes such a hopeful metaphor, suggesting the sheer wealth of possibilities for creating with it!

[@jimkroft]

I think you're bang on, that it's about the metaphor and that they completely failed to read the room. It was hard enough in the arts before the whirlwind of AI blew into town. On a deeper level, many feel that in the age of content, mass info and now - one click of a button creativity - the very things which bring meaning are being taken away too. That's before we even get to the loss of jobs. The paradox is that Apple is a great equaliser. Recording studios tanked with the rise of the Napster - but Apple helped the everyday musician keep going with amazing tools and programs. Apple, in this case, represents Tech as a whole, and we're all projecting our fears onto them with this. Your reaction video is brilliant, spot-on, lucid, and engaging. Thanks again - more of these! Best wishes from Berlin and keep on, Jim

[@nickdlf]

Thank you so much Jim, and honestly your video on this is incredible and really got me thinking about it in a deeper way!

[@LennoxSaint]

Interesting take Nick! Great art is divisive (and crushes)!

[@nickdlf]

Thanks so much Lennox, it sure is! How did you feel about it?

[@KarlBro]

Interesting perspective good to hear it from your side Nick

[@nickdlf]

Thanks so much, I felt like people were purposely ignoring their rich history of supporting creatives & creativity even if this one missed the mark!

[@DeltaXMusic]

It's literally the music. I don't know who is selecting the sound tracks for their commercials lately, but they have no idea what they're doing. This one & making apple vision pro have been two of the most boring audio tracks to ever accompany a technology product. there's no room to be edgy in music marketing, it needs to be catchy and actually fit the video / product

[@nickdlf]

I’m intrigued! You’re absolutely right the wrong music can make or break something and alter people’s perceptions, but theoretically what would you have picked to make it hit differently?

[@henry.smells]

I disagree, I think its well executed.

[@nickdlf]

You know I agree to a degree.. Technically yes it’s beautifully done… but in my opinion the core messaging isn’t at all well executed and I think that’s important for an ad. For Apple to see such a backlash from the creative community. If this wasn’t a piece of advertising I would say it was perfectly executed but because it’s a piece of product marketing that has alienated a large part of the intended audience I would say there is an issue somewhere in the execution.

[@gameboyjacks]

the only thing that i liked was the little emoji towards the end getting his eyes pushed out, aside from that, this entire ad hurt me

[@nickdlf]

Totally that but was actually kind of satisfying like when you squeeze a stress ball, but yeah the rest was heartbreaking! There’ was a little part do me going “but I could have used that..”

[@gameboyjacks]

@@nickdlf dont get me started on the arcade cabinet and cameras 😢

[@EditorHeart]

*I Joined The Force Horray 🥳*

[@TheArchitect101]

Worst Apple ad considering whats happening in Gaza! Sickening!

[@garad123456]

lmao

[@madcaliban]

I disagree. It’s art.

[@nickdlf]

The ad itself? Yeah it is, and it’s very nicely made art too. But, it’s still ultimately a piece of product marketing which is created to promote a new iPad. So in that sense for me it’s a misfire, because it’s very much missed the mark by alienating the people the product was designed for. Apple rarely publicly comment on things like this (an ad staring up hate etc..), they are known for sticking to their guns, so for it to be publicly acknowledged by them it the way it was, signals to me, that perhaps they see and acknowledge this on the inside too.

[@Noqtis]

Guys Apple totally cares about them creatives! Look the ad they made showing how much they care about creatives. Dude, Apple is a company. They don't give a fuck about creatives. What they care about is money. And people care about feeling like they are super creative. So apple cares about giving you the feeling you are creative to earn money. not actually making you creative. art is also not publicity nor does it have to be controversial. if your art is lacking everywhere else, sure make it controversial to not be pointless. but that doesn't make you better as an artist. take apples new ad. very controversial. now lets put princess mononoke besides it. not controversial at all. what the better art is is not even up for debate. thousands of years after apple products will be long gone people will still enjoy princess mononoke. great art doesn't have to be controversial. and if it is it's only a side thing and not the defining factor. because what you think of as controversial will be different in 10 years.

[@nickdlf]

Thanks for the very passionate comment. I see your perspective, I come to this from a place of spending 8 years of my life working there. Sure, absolutely companies make money to keep going and make a profit. In my opinion and experience the people who run a company are a group of people with tastes, values, ideals in a good company these are shared and more of a focus than just the money. Now I can’t speak with 100% certainty for Apple in 2024, but when I worked there, there were shared values that were held in higher regard than just the making of money. It was an explicitly stated thing and an approach to business. Profit was very much considered a by-product of making truly great products and doing things right. Certainly the company was fined tuned to make money… that is how a company survives.. but the way people were instructed and expected to go about doing their jobs was not to prioritise that… it was to create the best products, best experiences and actually not to make decisions solely for financial reasons in many cases. It was the standard practice within Apple to try to do the right thing, not the necessarily financially prudent thing when making some business decisions… obviously to a point otherwise they wouldn’t have survived as a business. So what you see as a monolithic single inhuman entity that is designed to make money, I see as a collection of real people with a shared appreciation and desire to support the arts, a shared goal to make the world better with great technology and to create things that inspire creativity. Where you see ads and just an empty corporate strategy, I see a conscious reflection of the values and approach to business of the group of people that run the business. This is a night and day difference between say them and Microsoft (I unfortunately worked there for 3.5 years) where they have no other real purpose than to make money, no real collective vision or true culture that filters down into the company from its leaders and flip-flop across different causes and ways of manufacturing “corporate responsibility” driven ideals because they see companies like Apple living it and need to copy. Apple are absolutely flawed and ultimately don’t do everything right, but they do (and definitely did when I was there) still try to “Think Different” and do things differently than other similar businesses.

[@Noqtis]

@@nickdlf no offense, but your comment sounds as apple does with their workforce what they do with their customers (brainwashing). I understand your line of thinking but the huge flaw is right in front: apple isn't a democratic entity. No matter what culture you foster, no matter what you are doing differently, the bottom line will not be decided by any collective working a normal job at apple. But just as MS does it, by their board. They can employ 10.000 artists but the final decision is still made by people whose kids can draw you a better cat :D for those people art is a means to earn money. But personally they don't really care about art nor artists. And this can be seen looking just at the results of the company. To think like you, you have to work at apple. To think like me, you just have to look at what apple has done. You say their policy is pro art. You say money is just a side show to them. They care about making great products, yes? Too bad it's just the image. Apple does the most inaccessable products on this planet, by price. I'm an artist. I never entered the home of an artist and saw a shit ton of apple products. And I'm from the west... Most of us artists are poor as fuck. We buy what is important to do our art and we don't have money to waste on luxury. It was like that since the very beginning of art. And in most of this planet apple products aren't just expansive they are unreachable for 99% of the population in the 2/3 of poorer countries. To justify such prices you have to offer something really, really good. But apple doesn't. I had a macBook and I could do less things an it than on a normal laptop because apple is that closed... The very core value of offering a closed product, like apple does is completely contrary to the idea of art. Take godot for example. That thing did more for artists apple ever could. How? Easy. Offer a completely free product and it's complete source code so artists can change it too their needs. Because art is that rich, you can never make it on rails. A friend of mine has an apple, is an artist and has entered a time in his life he needs every buck. Now he can't pay the adobe suit anymore and asked me how to pirate ps so he can at least continue doing his art. That guy payed for it all his life, he should be good using a single program of that package for a few years in an economic recession. Apple says no. There is no way to instal a pirated version on his mac. Just because of that apple doesn't do anything for true artists. They sell that image while catering to the people who play the most for the least amount of machine. Artists are interested in what can be done with a tool. Not how fancy the tool looks like. That's normies who would buy a pen because it looks stylish and futuristic. Artists care about how the pen feels in the hand, how it functions and what they can do with it. There is nothing you can do with an apple product what you can't do with a normal pc. In reality you can do less and pay about 3-fold. Apple was always a meme around real artists. If you tell them you have apple they ask you why you wasted your money in it. I know a music producer and he is actually quite productive so when I visited him I expected a studio full of apple tech. Because at that time even punk producers had a shitty macbook to mix their tapes and everyone and their mom were hyping up those amazing apple soundcards, no windows could ever reach. But that professional had not a single apple product. I was like: wtf I thought you make big bucks! And he goes: sure, but I also understand what I'm doing why should I waste my money on nothing? This is my private studio. I have another one for customers with only apple stuff but I don't need it for work. It's just to sell shit. People just think you are only in a professional studio if you see the apple logo. No other difference. See that pc? It can do stuff no apple will ever do. Just because you can't put your own stuff into them. All apple did was making art less accessible. It sold this idea that to do x art you need their shit. I met people who thought they need a macbook to do music, or an ipad to do great images. And they all did something other, not art. Because no one pays 1000 bucks to see if he enjoys making images. And I know a lot of artists who do great art and not a single one of them needs an apple product. Writers? Lol hell no 2D artists? Nope 3d artists? Nope Musicians? That was just a lie from the beginning Game devs: they will never need an apple product Even if AI replaces everything. How exactly does an apple product help me to write a better prompt? It doesn't. While costing more money... And this was the past. I was talking about apple in the past 20 years. Today apple is even much, much worse. They are making their products since the M chip in a way you are not able to switch parts if they break. You have to use the official apple repair. And that shit is even more expansive than the products. Like if you need to use it twice you can just buy a new one... Do you know for whom apple actually makes those products? You worked so long at apple, never noticed the core audience? It's not artists. It's not even directly people. Apple is a company who does products for other companies. I swear those are the only people I know who use apple products and like them. The ones who don't pay a single penny for them. Those are mostly programmers, not artists but also lots and lots of business suits. Look, if your company wants to buy you a new laptop and carry all repair costs you have to be stupid to not go apple. You will not lose a single buck if the company pays 3000 bucks for your laptop instead of 1000. It's fancy and you can show off. Even apple doesn't try to replace an actual computer because you probably already have a quite powerful one. They just offer companies overpriced fancy secondary laptops/pcs to by for their staff to improve the overall fancyness of the company. No artist on the whole planet cares about that shit. Nor are there many companies buying for artists products. If apple wants to help artists out they should make a shitty but accessible/cheap ipad. That move will help more artists out than they ever did before. But they will never do it because apple doesn't care about artists nor do the people working at apple do. You guys like to play the pretend game because liking art and artists is cool and trendy and sells more units than being some dusty company without the image of caring about the most creative minority. Especially in cooperate settings. Cooperations want to be seen less as cooperations and more like creative hubs. Apple sells that image with their product like to other comapnies and normal people buying their shit are just a side show and artists aren't even a side show. They are only being used to move more units, 99% don't even get one themselves nor are they even interested in one... Bottom line: ms did more for artists than apple. Don't get me wrong, ms is still shit but we don't even have to guess on what machine more art was being made. We can also compare the art of both platforms and the art from apple platforms will not be of a higher quality because of the platform. So all apple ever did was make the process of doing art less accessible. But at least the intentions of the people who had no power in the company were good lol