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I think the ad was uncharacteristically tasteless but I still don’t understand the leap from “well that isn’t convincing me to buy their product” to “I’m person

I think the ad was uncharacteristically tasteless but I still don’t understand the leap from “well that isn’t convincing me to buy their product” to “I’m personally offended and my day is ruined. Someone must apologize to me.” Is this just the “I need validation by other people liking what I like” thing we see a lot in gaming, sports, etc. fandoms? What I’m also curious about, given how shocking it is for Apple to totally miss the mark, is if this was calculated.

delichon 2y ago
> the reason why people reacted so strongly to the ad is that it couldn’t have hit the mark more squarely. I think this is right. The ad is about the flattening of the old analog world into the digital one and it evokes strong feelings because our nostalgia for that is not a little about a real and significant loss, which the Apple commercial grotesquely celebrates.
- zer00eyz 2y ago
  20 odd years ago I worked for a bank. We were doing a focus group that went slightly off the rails and a room full of people all agreed that the bank must still have paper records. The bank had not had paper records for decades. Im not sure that "nostalgia" is the right word...
- DocTomoe 2y ago
  It's more than just nostalgia. The ad visibly destroys items associated with creativity and culture, celebrates such destruction, and replaces it with an iPad. It reminded me of that scene in Pinocchio where the boys trash the mansion and the piano in it, it reminded me of book burnings. It could easily be understood as "screw the old world, it's all in our product now." And to a demographic of Apple buyers who actually tend to like culture, who are more likely than the average to attend actual concerts, visit a gallery or enjoy their vinyl collection, that was highly, highly offensive. Contrast that with Steve Jobs "It is a music player, it is a computer, it is a phone" skid from the iPhone introduction: Back then, it was not about replacing music players, it was a music player. The product was a tool, not the end. With the ad, the product is the end, not the tool.
  - yourapostasy 2y ago
    Perhaps marking a turn of Apple considering itself the center of an ecosystem to the center of the ecosystem, trapped within an echo chamber of its own hall of mirrors?
  - polotics 2y ago
    The issue is not so much destroying some hardware. It's more the lack of knowledge about the use of these tools. When does Apple expect a Vivaldi concert to feature the pianist only turning up with an iPad instead of a Grand? Same for all the tools on display in the add.
    - saberience 2y ago
      I think the point is this, most people in this world can not and will not ever be able to afford a grand piano, however, they can afford an iPhone or iPad which lets them write, create, produce music.
  - discreteevent 2y ago
    I didn't consider it offensive but I did not like it at all. My initial reaction was that Apple come across as bunch of ignorant wankers. That's just a visceral reaction but the more I thought about it the more I thought that it explains their behavior. They have become so lost in their own world that even though they are clearly intelligent they completely missed that people would have this reaction. (Even if they meant it to be arch or ironic it still shows they are out of touch. You know you are out of touch when you thought you were being clever if someone says: "I don't find that funny") As Alan Kay said "A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points." Apple lost their perspective. The worst thing about it is that it plays into a very old caricature of tech geeks - giving everyone a bad name.
wisty 2y ago
I suspect a lot of people are actually kind of angry at themselves, but want to blame the ad for making them angry at themselves. How many people have a painting set, or a musical instrument, and dream of getting good at it but just can't be bothered because they'd rather watch ads online?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
andyjohnson0 2y ago
> but I still don’t understand the leap [...] to “I’m personally offended and my day is ruined. Someone must apologize to me.” This comes across as rather belittling to me - akin to calling someone a "snowflake" for not acquiescing to someone else's version of reality. It is possible to find the theme of the ad to objectionable in a way that transcends the personal: for example, out of concern for the possible consequences of coarsening commercial speech, or of promoting the devaluation of human creativity. I really don't think that many of the critics were demanding a personal apology.
itishappy 2y ago
> I still don’t understand the leap from “well that isn’t convincing me to buy their product” to “I’m personally offended and my day is ruined. Someone must apologize to me.” I see a lot of comments expressing the former, and a lot of comments reacting against the latter. Are you sure that's an accurate representation of the reaction? > Is this just the “I need validation by other people liking what I like” thing we see a lot in gaming, sports, etc. fandoms? Internet forums? ;)

delichon 2y ago

> the reason why people reacted so strongly to the ad is that it couldn’t have hit the mark more squarely. I think this is right. The ad is about the flattening of the old analog world into the digital one and it evokes strong feelings because our nostalgia for that is not a little about a real and significant loss, which the Apple commercial grotesquely celebrates.

zer00eyz 2y ago
20 odd years ago I worked for a bank. We were doing a focus group that went slightly off the rails and a room full of people all agreed that the bank must still have paper records. The bank had not had paper records for decades. Im not sure that "nostalgia" is the right word...
DocTomoe 2y ago
It's more than just nostalgia. The ad visibly destroys items associated with creativity and culture, celebrates such destruction, and replaces it with an iPad. It reminded me of that scene in Pinocchio where the boys trash the mansion and the piano in it, it reminded me of book burnings. It could easily be understood as "screw the old world, it's all in our product now." And to a demographic of Apple buyers who actually tend to like culture, who are more likely than the average to attend actual concerts, visit a gallery or enjoy their vinyl collection, that was highly, highly offensive. Contrast that with Steve Jobs "It is a music player, it is a computer, it is a phone" skid from the iPhone introduction: Back then, it was not about replacing music players, it was a music player. The product was a tool, not the end. With the ad, the product is the end, not the tool.
- yourapostasy 2y ago
  Perhaps marking a turn of Apple considering itself the center of an ecosystem to the center of the ecosystem, trapped within an echo chamber of its own hall of mirrors?
- polotics 2y ago
  The issue is not so much destroying some hardware. It's more the lack of knowledge about the use of these tools. When does Apple expect a Vivaldi concert to feature the pianist only turning up with an iPad instead of a Grand? Same for all the tools on display in the add.
  - saberience 2y ago
    I think the point is this, most people in this world can not and will not ever be able to afford a grand piano, however, they can afford an iPhone or iPad which lets them write, create, produce music.
- discreteevent 2y ago
  I didn't consider it offensive but I did not like it at all. My initial reaction was that Apple come across as bunch of ignorant wankers. That's just a visceral reaction but the more I thought about it the more I thought that it explains their behavior. They have become so lost in their own world that even though they are clearly intelligent they completely missed that people would have this reaction. (Even if they meant it to be arch or ironic it still shows they are out of touch. You know you are out of touch when you thought you were being clever if someone says: "I don't find that funny") As Alan Kay said "A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points." Apple lost their perspective. The worst thing about it is that it plays into a very old caricature of tech geeks - giving everyone a bad name.

wisty 2y ago

I suspect a lot of people are actually kind of angry at themselves, but want to blame the ad for making them angry at themselves. How many people have a painting set, or a musical instrument, and dream of getting good at it but just can't be bothered because they'd rather watch ads online?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

andyjohnson0 2y ago

> but I still don’t understand the leap [...] to “I’m personally offended and my day is ruined. Someone must apologize to me.” This comes across as rather belittling to me - akin to calling someone a "snowflake" for not acquiescing to someone else's version of reality. It is possible to find the theme of the ad to objectionable in a way that transcends the personal: for example, out of concern for the possible consequences of coarsening commercial speech, or of promoting the devaluation of human creativity. I really don't think that many of the critics were demanding a personal apology.

itishappy 2y ago

> I still don’t understand the leap from “well that isn’t convincing me to buy their product” to “I’m personally offended and my day is ruined. Someone must apologize to me.” I see a lot of comments expressing the former, and a lot of comments reacting against the latter. Are you sure that's an accurate representation of the reaction? > Is this just the “I need validation by other people liking what I like” thing we see a lot in gaming, sports, etc. fandoms? Internet forums? ;)