Thick and Thin
The failure of Apple's new "Crush" ad demonstrates at a bigger problem.
It must have seemed like a good idea at the time.
(See Apple’s new “Crush” ad here)
Apple is releasing its latest and thinnest iPad ever. Advertising is full of examples of metaphor and hyperbole, but how to show off all that amazing tech packed into such a thin device? There’s a hugely popular online genre on Youtube and Tiktok that shows ordinary items being squashed flat in industrial presses. Genius!
Except it wasn’t.
The aftermath has been interesting. People reacted with a visceral dislike, I did a tweet, it pulled some numbers and we’ve seen Apple (APPLE!) apologise and cancel its plans to run the ad on regular channels. So instead the ad it will live in infamy (and perpetuity) online. Yikes!
Now I’m a Marketing guy, so it’s my job to look at these things from a different lens, so feel free to stop reading now. But marketing is inherently a business function, and it has a commercial purpose. Ads are all around you and they are trying to influence you in one way or the other, it’s probably useful to understand how they work. For this post I won’t focus specifically on how Apple executed this ad, I covered these problems in posts here and here over the last few days. But for this post I wanted to look at a wider issue for Apple and why Crush is a misstep with potentially bigger consequences.
So if you’re still reading, here goes.
Backstory
First, let’s rewind a bit.
Apple as a brand has always stood alone. Virtually from the start of its existence it has been a tool of creators. The combination of Steve Wozniak’s way of building and coding, and Steve Job’s obsession with detail and beauty meant Apple products were different and therefore its customers were different.
As the PC went mainstream in the 1980s and increasingly became a common business tool, Apple doubled down on its strategic focus on creators and creativity to launch the Macintosh. Apple’s “1984” ad played on the themes of Orwell’s book and presented Apple as breaking out of the ‘oppressive’ world of home computing. Created by legendary ad agency Chiat\Day and directed by Ridley Scott, Apple delivered one of the most iconic ads… ever:
(You can view the full ad here)
Fast forward to 1997 and the return of Steve Jobs to Apple following the deposing of John Scully. Jobs was in the process of returning Apple to the sort of product purity he was renowned and for which Apple had lost without him. The candy coloured iMacs were still a year from release but Jobs wanted a statement of intent. Jobs turned again to Chiat\Day and Apple’s “Think Different” slogan struck a chord with creatives and artists and this was driven home by yet another iconic ad, “Crazy Ones”. (If you want to go deep into the story, this is a great read):
(You can view the full ad here)
25 years of products
I’m going to something you won’t expect, I’m going to totally ignore Apple’s ads for the last 25 years. During this time we’ve seen a remarkable run of products the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, Macbook, the Macbook Air, Apple Watch… etc etc. Apple ran the series “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” between 2006-9, but nothing to hold a candle to 1984 or Crazy Ones. But generally speaking while unspectacular, these ads did what they needed to do and make Apple owners feel smart, cool and creative.
During this period and starting with iMac, the ads have also increasingly focused on beautiful product shots. And this is notable. When you look at 1984 and Crazy Ones what do you NOT see? That’s right, there are no product shots. The power of these two ads is that they are communicating ideas about Apple as a brand. There’s a famous clip of Steve Jobs himself talking about a lack of products and the value of brand in 1997. But increasingly, and almost exclusively, Apple marketing and its ads, have glamourised products (or product features) ahead of ideas. This as been the case for at least the last 15 years.
Why has Apple done this? I couldn’t say. They do make beautiful products, so that’s understandable. But ultimately I guess if you’re Apple and everyone associates you with “Think Different” you’re at the summit, you don’t need to express any more ideas.
Crushing idea
Which leads us to “Crush” and why this is such an interesting misstep - this is an ad that contains an idea! But given their recent past. I’m not sure Apple realised that it contained an idea. To Apple, Crush is a product/feature ad - “hey we’ve made our thinnest iPad ever!”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the idea that Apple’s many many creative customers saw. They saw the instruments of creativity being, not just squished, but destroyed. The glorious diversity of human imagination being pulverised by a grey, steel, industrial press to create a… thin grey, steel-coloured iPad.
The idea was unintentional perhaps, but that’s the problem, for the first time in 15 years, Apple used an ad to articulate an idea and alienated it’s most important customers. If you think I’m exaggerating, read replies to Tim Cook’s post.
Why it matters
It’s no exaggeration to say that 1984 and Crazy Ones are two of the greatest of all time. They are powerful because they communicate an idea. With that idea and their products, Apple built themselves an insurmountable (and incredibly valuable) brand as an incredibly cool creative tool for cool creative people. Even more importantly, as a tool for those who wanted to feel like cool creative people.
It is a perfect alignment of business strategy and marketing strategy with creative execution. It’s lightning in a bottle. Few companies ever achieve it. Apple had it. Until this week. With a single, very high profile ad and a very misconceived idea, Apple managed to alienate the very people it’s brand depends upon - creatives.
To be clear, it’s not the end for Apple, that would be ridiculous. But along with a series of missteps on product - cancelling its car project, the damp squib of Apple Vision Pro - and failures at a corporate level - antitrust, Apple Store suppressing competition, share buyback - Apple looks slow and vulnerable. And worst, it has shaken faith (and ‘faith’ is the right word) of its core customers.
To paraphrase Apple: “You’ll see that 1984 won’t be like “1984”… but 2024 might.