4 ms·

If you think of yourself as skeptical, agnostic, materialist. I don’t understand how you can be upset about cheap in-animate objects get destroyed for an entert

If you think of yourself as skeptical, agnostic, materialist. I don’t understand how you can be upset about cheap in-animate objects get destroyed for an entertaining video.

skywhopper 2y ago
No one is actually upset about any specific objects that were destroyed in the making of this ad. This sort of advertising is all about eliciting emotions and shaping a message--a vibe--about a particular product. This ad triggered visceral feelings related to the emotional connection a lot of people--even skeptical agnostic materialists!--have with the tools, instruments, and products of creativity and art. And based on the reaction, the ad clearly elicited a lot of negative emotions and a negative vibe in what is presumably the iPad Pro's target audience. Thus, I'd say that even from your ultra-rationalist point of view, it's a bad ad.
- citizen_friend 2y ago
  I mostly agree. My point is I don’t think the audience here would give the same empathy to flag burning, Christian trolling etc. just want to be clear if these are the gods we worship here
  - mulmen 2y ago
    As a recovering christian I don’t “worship” anything, especially a god.
    - real0mar 2y ago
      no one asked
      - mulmen 2y ago
        > just want to be clear if these are the gods we worship here “We” don’t worship anything here.
        citizen_friend 2y ago
        The root of this thread is arguing that the musical instruments are sacred and deserving of symbolic respect.
        mulmen 2y ago
        Yes, by Apple customers, not HN commenters.
        citizen_friend 2y ago
        HN commenters in this very thread. And it's one of the most upvoted comments.
sangnoir 2y ago
Another person on social media noted that no Apple ad has ever depicted older generation iPads or MacBook Pros being crushed by a hydraulic press to signify them being made thinner - I suspect Apple wouldn't even greenlight that ad pitch.
eddd-ddde 2y ago
It's not matter of spiritualism. If I put my skill and effort crafting something and it is destroyed, I'll feel sad. Feeling that way even for things other made is called empathy.
CamperBob2 2y ago
Try a car analogy on for size: a new Corvette might be superior to a classic Porsche in all the ways that matter, but nobody at GM would greenlight an ad depicting a C8 emerging from a crusher that had just destroyed a '63 911. They would understand how disrespectful it would seem.
- stale2002 2y ago
  Disrespectful? What? That sounds like a cool ad. People are being babies about this.
  - CamperBob2 2y ago
    That's an indication that you're not a good fit for the sports-car advertising business, just as whoever approved this ad isn't a good fit for the creative business. If it has to be explained to you, you won't get it.
  - wiseowise 2y ago
    > People having different tastes than me are babies
    - stale2002 2y ago
      You are free to think that the ad was boring and that you didn't like it. But yes, if you are losing your mind over it and crying about it, with an extreme emotional reaction, yes that makes you a baby. I have no problem with someone who merely didn't like the ad. What I do have a problem with is this extreme freakout response.
      - CamperBob2 2y ago
        I don't think anyone's losing their mind and crying. It's just interesting to see something like this from a company that has historically prided themselves on mutual respect (if not outright symbiosis) with artists, musicians, and other creative people. Somewhere within Apple there was a failure of taste, and that was always the proverbial "sin unto death" from Steve Jobs's perspective. Doesn't happen every day. You hate to see it, but you can't help but watch.
danjoredd 2y ago
Im not a skeptical agnostic materialist, but those objects were far from being cheap. Those instruments cost thousands of dollars each. The arcade cabinet as well(there aren't exactly a lot of those left). The entire point of the ad is that the entire human creative experience is consolidated into the ipad, which is a pretty dystopian way of looking at things. Even if you ignore the cost and rarity of these items, the symbolism is pretty horrible.
- hinkley 2y ago
  You know there are reproductions of those arcade cabinets right? And used instruments cost hundreds, not thousands. A guitar with a broken neck or stripped screws could be propped up long enough for a scene such as this and be useless to actually play. And busted pianos are easy enough to find.
  - danjoredd 2y ago
    >And used instruments cost hundreds, not thousands. A guitar, sure. I tried getting an used string piano and couldn't find one...used...for less than five grand. Used violins and other instruments are also usually very highly priced.
    - hinkley 2y ago
      You are trying to get a working piano. This ad only required a non working piano. Someone bought me a broken piano once thinking I would be able to repair it. We ended up letting someone else have it for free. It wasn’t expensive to begin with because it didn’t work.
    - andrewla 2y ago
      Try craigslist or a local piano mover. Local piano movers are often asked to haul off abandoned pianos and will resell them [1]. This company's stock at the moment is a bit pricey compared to what I usually see, but it's not unusual to be able to get even a baby grand for ~$1,000. The catch is you've got to pay to move them, which is a bit of an ordeal. [1] e.g. https://www.actionpianomoving.com/used-pianos https://www.actionpianomoving.com/used-pianos if you're in the greater NYC area
mark242 2y ago
If you had ever put the time and effort (and blood!) into learning how to play the guitar, you too would have a visceral reaction to seeing a guitar getting destroyed for nothing. It's not the objects themselves that are the problem, it is our connection to those objects, and our innate feelings about those objects, that Apple has smashed in that video. That's a marketing 101 mistake and how this ad ever got greenlit is beyond me.
- EduardoBautista 2y ago
  Literal rock stars destroy their instruments on set just for fun.
  - CamperBob2 2y ago
    If it weren't offensive to someone, somewhere, they wouldn't do it. Apple, on the other hand, will never be punk. They left that path when they realized it was more profitable to become the guy on the screen in their earlier ad. A better comparison might be to Spike Jonze's famous Ikea ad ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg ), which was also sort of disturbing to watch.
  - Hamuko 2y ago
    Or if they're asked to vacate the stage. https://youtu.be/g9zogQOmQVM https://youtu.be/g9zogQOmQVM At least Billie Joe Armstrong showed that Gibsons are very durable and you really have to put your back into destroying it.
  - mark242 2y ago
    I'll bet you didn't know that many times, those are getting repaired. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8838159/amp/The-Whos-Pete-Townshend-smashed-guitars-carefully-repaired.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8838159/amp/The-Who... Because of the connection that the players have with the instruments. Could you do that with an iPad?
    - EduardoBautista 2y ago

If you think of yourself as skeptical, agnostic, materialist. I don’t understand how you can be upset about cheap in-animate objects get destroyed for an entertaining video.

skywhopper 2y ago

No one is actually upset about any specific objects that were destroyed in the making of this ad. This sort of advertising is all about eliciting emotions and shaping a message--a vibe--about a particular product. This ad triggered visceral feelings related to the emotional connection a lot of people--even skeptical agnostic materialists!--have with the tools, instruments, and products of creativity and art. And based on the reaction, the ad clearly elicited a lot of negative emotions and a negative vibe in what is presumably the iPad Pro's target audience. Thus, I'd say that even from your ultra-rationalist point of view, it's a bad ad.

citizen_friend 2y ago
I mostly agree. My point is I don’t think the audience here would give the same empathy to flag burning, Christian trolling etc. just want to be clear if these are the gods we worship here
- mulmen 2y ago
  As a recovering christian I don’t “worship” anything, especially a god.
  - real0mar 2y ago
    no one asked
    - mulmen 2y ago
      > just want to be clear if these are the gods we worship here “We” don’t worship anything here.
      - citizen_friend 2y ago
        The root of this thread is arguing that the musical instruments are sacred and deserving of symbolic respect.
        mulmen 2y ago
        Yes, by Apple customers, not HN commenters.
        citizen_friend 2y ago
        HN commenters in this very thread. And it's one of the most upvoted comments.

sangnoir 2y ago

Another person on social media noted that no Apple ad has ever depicted older generation iPads or MacBook Pros being crushed by a hydraulic press to signify them being made thinner - I suspect Apple wouldn't even greenlight that ad pitch.

eddd-ddde 2y ago

It's not matter of spiritualism. If I put my skill and effort crafting something and it is destroyed, I'll feel sad. Feeling that way even for things other made is called empathy.

CamperBob2 2y ago

Try a car analogy on for size: a new Corvette might be superior to a classic Porsche in all the ways that matter, but nobody at GM would greenlight an ad depicting a C8 emerging from a crusher that had just destroyed a '63 911. They would understand how disrespectful it would seem.

stale2002 2y ago
Disrespectful? What? That sounds like a cool ad. People are being babies about this.
- CamperBob2 2y ago
  That's an indication that you're not a good fit for the sports-car advertising business, just as whoever approved this ad isn't a good fit for the creative business. If it has to be explained to you, you won't get it.
- wiseowise 2y ago
  > People having different tastes than me are babies
  - stale2002 2y ago
    You are free to think that the ad was boring and that you didn't like it. But yes, if you are losing your mind over it and crying about it, with an extreme emotional reaction, yes that makes you a baby. I have no problem with someone who merely didn't like the ad. What I do have a problem with is this extreme freakout response.
    - CamperBob2 2y ago
      I don't think anyone's losing their mind and crying. It's just interesting to see something like this from a company that has historically prided themselves on mutual respect (if not outright symbiosis) with artists, musicians, and other creative people. Somewhere within Apple there was a failure of taste, and that was always the proverbial "sin unto death" from Steve Jobs's perspective. Doesn't happen every day. You hate to see it, but you can't help but watch.

danjoredd 2y ago

Im not a skeptical agnostic materialist, but those objects were far from being cheap. Those instruments cost thousands of dollars each. The arcade cabinet as well(there aren't exactly a lot of those left). The entire point of the ad is that the entire human creative experience is consolidated into the ipad, which is a pretty dystopian way of looking at things. Even if you ignore the cost and rarity of these items, the symbolism is pretty horrible.

hinkley 2y ago
You know there are reproductions of those arcade cabinets right? And used instruments cost hundreds, not thousands. A guitar with a broken neck or stripped screws could be propped up long enough for a scene such as this and be useless to actually play. And busted pianos are easy enough to find.
- danjoredd 2y ago
  >And used instruments cost hundreds, not thousands. A guitar, sure. I tried getting an used string piano and couldn't find one...used...for less than five grand. Used violins and other instruments are also usually very highly priced.
  - hinkley 2y ago
    You are trying to get a working piano. This ad only required a non working piano. Someone bought me a broken piano once thinking I would be able to repair it. We ended up letting someone else have it for free. It wasn’t expensive to begin with because it didn’t work.
  - andrewla 2y ago
    Try craigslist or a local piano mover. Local piano movers are often asked to haul off abandoned pianos and will resell them [1]. This company's stock at the moment is a bit pricey compared to what I usually see, but it's not unusual to be able to get even a baby grand for ~$1,000. The catch is you've got to pay to move them, which is a bit of an ordeal. [1] e.g. https://www.actionpianomoving.com/used-pianos https://www.actionpianomoving.com/used-pianos if you're in the greater NYC area

mark242 2y ago

If you had ever put the time and effort (and blood!) into learning how to play the guitar, you too would have a visceral reaction to seeing a guitar getting destroyed for nothing. It's not the objects themselves that are the problem, it is our connection to those objects, and our innate feelings about those objects, that Apple has smashed in that video. That's a marketing 101 mistake and how this ad ever got greenlit is beyond me.

EduardoBautista 2y ago
Literal rock stars destroy their instruments on set just for fun.
- CamperBob2 2y ago
  If it weren't offensive to someone, somewhere, they wouldn't do it. Apple, on the other hand, will never be punk. They left that path when they realized it was more profitable to become the guy on the screen in their earlier ad. A better comparison might be to Spike Jonze's famous Ikea ad ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqhIVyfsRg ), which was also sort of disturbing to watch.
- Hamuko 2y ago
  Or if they're asked to vacate the stage. https://youtu.be/g9zogQOmQVM https://youtu.be/g9zogQOmQVM At least Billie Joe Armstrong showed that Gibsons are very durable and you really have to put your back into destroying it.
- mark242 2y ago
  I'll bet you didn't know that many times, those are getting repaired. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8838159/amp/The-Whos-Pete-Townshend-smashed-guitars-carefully-repaired.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8838159/amp/The-Who... Because of the connection that the players have with the instruments. Could you do that with an iPad?
  - EduardoBautista 2y ago