On May 7, Apple released a new commercial for the iPad Pro, touting its new thin look and M4 processing chip. Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted the ad on X (formerly Twitter) and hyped up the product with the closer “Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create.”
That statement rang false, given that the ad features an industrial crusher destroying just about every musical instrument and art material. In the minute-long ad, Sonny & Cher’s “All I Ever Need is You” plays as instruments and creative tools are unceremoniously destroyed to create the new iPad Pro. The attempt to market the product’s all-in-one versatility and slim look instead came off as tone-deaf and dystopian in a time when corporations continue to decimate creative industries brutally.
Unsurprisingly, the ad received an overwhelming amount of criticism — and the criticism from Japan was especially loud.
An insult to artists
Product designer Wada Satoshi, an avowed Apple fan, expressed “grave disappointment and shock” over the ad. “This is especially unbearable to the many Japanese who believe objects like wood and stone have souls,” he tweeted. “What’s wrong with you, Apple?”
X user @takasugi_mbsjk replied to Cook’s tweet in English and Japanese, expressing the reverence artists of all stripes have for the tools of their trade. “Your predecessors showed us their dreams. You showed us our nightmares,” they wrote.
The ad also left Ling Tosite Sigure drummer Nakano Pierre very uneasy. “I understand the things you’re trying to say and convey. However, as a musician, the way you expressed that is just unacceptable,” he tweeted.
Seikei University professor Shiozawa Kaz said he felt pain all over his body when watching the ad. “It’s beyond sad that Apple, a company that loves music, would express itself like this,” he tweeted. “Are you essentially saying digital instruments have eclipsed analog? I really hope Apple hasn’t grown so arrogant.”
There was a small bit of positivity amid the gloom when musician Meiwa Denki remixed the ad to play in reverse, replacing Sonny & Cher with one of his own songs. It currently has 3.3 million views on X and received much more positive feedback than the original.
A needless waste
In most Japanese reactions I read on X, there was an emphasis on the waste of the physical objects themselves. By contrast, many reactions from native English users focused on the symbolism behind the ad.
Reverence and respect for objects and tools exist globally. However, at the risk of exoticizing the country, Wada’s mention of objects with souls does touch upon a couple of intersecting mindsets in Japan.
There’s the mottainai way of thinking emphasizing a mindful use of resources and avoiding needless waste born out of a conscious effort to balance food production and population growth as Japan industrialized. Mottainai also has roots in the animism of Shinto which posits all objects, manmade or natural, have spirits that should be treated with respect.
This belief appears in Japanese mythology as the yokai Tsukumogami (付喪神), manmade tools or household objects that gain a spirit if they’ve existed for a century. Within that category is the biwa-bokuboku (琵琶牧々), an anthropomorphic being with the head of a biwa, known for becoming a nuisance and bemoaning their neglect if forgotten for too long. Apple’s blatant destruction of objects seemingly in working condition contradicts sensibilities with a lot of history behind them.
While Apple issued an apology in the marketing and media magazine Ad Age on May 9, the ad will undoubtedly be one many will refuse to forget – or forgive.
Discuss this article with other UJ fans on our Bluesky account or Discord server!
Join Us And Get More
We’re an independent site that keeps our content free of intrusive ads. If you love what we do, help us do more. Donors of $5/month or more (paid monthly or yearly) join Unseen Japan Insider and get a newsletter with bonus content and commentary every week.
What to read next
“Uncle Tohru”: 58-Year-Old Japanese Salaryman Dances Into Online Fame
By day, he’s a management consultant. The world knows him better as “Uncle Tohru” – and they’ve made him an online dance star.
Japanese Gamer Skips Middle School to Work on Fortnite Skills
It’s a rare move in a country with no legal structure for homeschooling – but the gamer and his parents stand by the family’s decision.
Japanese Drug Store Fines Ramen Store Customer, Goes Viral
Cosmos Drug Store nearly sank its reputation attempting to charge a man for parking in what turned out to be a shared parking lot.
Sources
Tweet by @SWdesignTOKYO. Twitter
Tweet by @takasugi_mbsjk. Twitter
Tweet by @Pinakano. Twitter
Tweet by @shiology. Twitter
Tweet by @MaywaDenki. Twitter
「ｉＰａｄ Ｐｒｏ」ＰＲ動画に楽器破壊する映像、アップルが謝罪「的外れだった」. Yomiuri Shinbun
