Abstract

This case is about the advertisement ‘Crush! By Apple Inc. (Apple) for its new ‘iPad Pro. The ‘Crush! Ad, was posted on X (twitter) by the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook (Cook). The advertisement featured a hydraulic press crushing creative artistic items such as a camera, a typewriter, a guitar, a piano, and paint cans. The post on X provoked a backlash on social media with popular designers, media, artists, and actors criticizing the advertisement and stating that it promoted ‘crushing of creativity by AI’. The case discusses in detail the negative response to the ‘Crush’ advertisement from social media users, experts, and market analysts. The advertisements launched by Apple over the years are discussed in detail. The ‘Crush’ advertisement and its content is put forth in the case. Apple’s ‘Crush’ advertisement resulted in its competitors such as Samsung and Xiaomi launching counter advertisements endorsing their products. In response to the backlash over the advertisement, Apple apologized and announced that future plans to air the advertisement on television had been shelved. The company had expected to increase its tablet business with the ‘Crush’ iPad advertisement. Analysts opined that despite the criticism, the ‘iPad Pro Crush!’ commercial had attracted customers’ attention and generated interest. However, it remained to be seen if it could induce desire and finally push the customer into action.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the impact of social media on a company’s advertisement campaign
• Examine the ethical issues to be considered before an advertisement campaign for a product is launched.

Keywords

Social media; marketing; advertising; ethical issues; impact of social media; Tim Cook; Apple