“Creativity cannot be crushed.”
That’s Samsung’s message in a new spot that trolls Apple’s iPad Pro “crush” ad, which caused an internet meltdown last week.
In Apple’s ad, creative tools — paint, instruments, etc. — are crushed in a hydraulic press, and out comes the ultra-thin and powerful new iPad Pro. As my colleague Katie Notopoulos pointed out, the meaning was likely simple: Look at this upgraded gadget that can do so many things, and it’s so thin.
That’s not how the internet read it. Instead, the overwhelming reaction was that the ad encompassed much of the collective existential dread about technology replacing humans — especially creatives. The backlash was so intense that Apple apologized, pulled the ad’s TV run, and admitted to Ad Age that it “missed the mark.”
A week later, on Wednesday, Samsung released its response.
The ad, which was made by BBH USA and will run on social media according to Ad Age, appears to pick up in what could well be described as the aftermath of Apple’s spot. In a dimly lit room strewn with crushed instruments and debris, with a paint-splattered hydraulic press in the background, a young woman comes and picks up a partially smushed guitar and begins playing.
She’s reading music off a tablet — a Galaxy Tab S9. The S9 has been on the market since August, so while the spot is partially a tablet ad, it’s really primarily a timely kiss-off to Apple.
Despite the fact that sales recently slumped for both companies, Apple and Samsung are the leaders in tablet sales. In Q1, Apple shipped 9.9 million units, according to IDC. Samsung shipped 6.7 million in that same quarter.
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