Samsung mocks Apple’s iPad Pro ad; “Creativity cannot be crushed”

With the launch of the new iPad Pro, Apple released a controversial ad in which creative tools were crushed by a hydraulic press. Now, Samsung is hitting back at the ad with a brief spot on the Galaxy Tab S9 that says “creativity can’t be crushed.”

Apple’s iPad Pro “Crush” ad debuted during the company’s May 7 launch event. The ad saw a hydraulic press physically crushing musical instruments, paintings, books, camera lenses, etc. before revealing an iPad Pro at the end. The ad’s intention was clearly to show how all of these elements are integrated into the new ultra-thin iPad Pro, but it was criticized.

For many, advertising has a second meaning, that of how tech companies treat creatives and artists, and also how advances in AI and technology are challenging traditional means of creativity.

Apple eventually apologized for the ad, saying it “missed the mark” and scrapped plans to air the ad on television. The ad – which garnered millions of views – was not removed from YouTube or social media, however.

Today, Samsung stepped in with its own ad, showing a musician walking through the aftereffects of Apple’s hydraulic press and picking up a partially destroyed guitar. Next, sitting on an easel, is a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra with musical notes, and the musician is strumming.

At the end of the commercial, Samsung states that “creativity cannot be crushed.” And, in a caption on Twitter/X, the company says it will “never crush creativity.” It’s a clever way to poke fun at Apple’s advertising, and it’s done very tastefully overall too.

The timing of the ad isn’t a major surprise. Apple is making its new iPads available to the first customers today.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Tab S9 series starts at $799, with Samsung touting up to $800 trade-in credit on its website. The ad also briefly reminds viewers that the Tab S9 series now has “Galaxy AI,” a suite of AI features that arrived in an update earlier this year.

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