"Playing with the Guitar You Broke"... Samsung Ad Captures Creativity by Taking on Apple

Foreign Media Praises Apple for Clever Critique in Advertisement

Samsung Electronics has targeted Apple after the latter's new iPad Pro commercial was criticized for 'mocking creators.'

"Creativity Cannot Be Crushed" Woman Playing a Broken Guitar on Debris... Did Samsung Take a Shot at Apple?

A Samsung Electronics commercial featuring a woman playing a broken guitar in a space scattered with debris. This advertisement appears to target Apple's latest iPad Pro commercial.
[Image source=Captured from Samsung Mobile US SNS]

On the 15th (local time), Samsung Electronics' U.S. subsidiary, Samsung Mobile US, posted a short commercial titled "Uncrush" on its official social media channels. The video begins with a female musician walking through a space scattered with broken debris and picking up a broken guitar. Notably, the woman is covered in paint of various colors, sitting atop a hydraulic press piled with shattered objects, reading sheet music on a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra while playing the guitar.

The commercial ends with the phrase "Creativity cannot be crushed." Samsung also added the caption "We would never crush creativity" when posting the ad on social media.

"An Insult to Artists"... Apple Issues Unprecedented Apology Amid Criticism Over Ad That Crushes Creative Tools and Promotes iPad

A part of the new iPad Pro commercial released by Apple. [Image source=Apple]

Samsung Electronics' advertisement is widely interpreted as a direct response to Apple's recently controversial new iPad Pro commercial. On the 7th, Apple released a one-minute ad titled "Crush!" The video vividly shows a hydraulic press crushing and destroying a piano, metronome, LP player, film camera, paint can, arcade game, sculpture, guitar, emoji doll, and more. After the metal plate lifts, the new iPad Pro is placed in the empty space. The ad appears to convey the message that various creative tools are ultimately unified into a single iPad.

However, the ad faced backlash from netizens who said it "mocked artists," "destroyed humanity's cultural heritage," and "showed no respect for creative tools." Foreign media also commented that "Apple has come to be seen as the digital victor over the analog world." As the controversy grew, Tor Myhren, Apple's Vice President of Marketing, issued a direct apology, stating, "The message of the ad did not properly align with our goals. We apologize," and took the unusual step of deciding not to air the new commercial on TV.

Direct Contrast with Apple Through 'Musician Reading Sheet Music on Galaxy Tab While Sitting on Hydraulic Press'

A Samsung Electronics commercial featuring a woman playing a damaged guitar while reading sheet music on a Galaxy Tab in a space scattered with broken debris. This ad appears to target Apple's latest iPad Pro commercial.
[Image source=Captured from Samsung Mobile US SNS]

Given the controversy that led Apple to issue an unprecedented apology, Samsung appears to have quickly capitalized on the situation. The titles of the ads?"Crush!" and "Uncrush"?the image of a musician sitting on what resembles a paint-covered hydraulic press, the fact that the guitar is broken in Apple's ad but played despite damage in Samsung's, and the appearance of the Galaxy Tab supporting artistic and creative activities instead of the iPad that appears after destruction all highlight the contrast between the two ads. This is interpreted as Samsung emphasizing that "we are different from Apple." The IT media outlet Nine to Five Google praised Samsung's ad, calling it "a clever way to mock Apple's commercial and overall very sophisticatedly produced."