Samsung trolls iPad ‘Crush!’ Ad says: ‘We would never crush creativity’

Samsung has been trying to capitalize on the fallout from Apple’s controversial “Crush!” ad for iPad Pro by releasing a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra ad with the tagline “Creativity can’t be crushed.”

When Apple introduced the new M4 iPad Pro models last week, it showed a video of a hydraulic press crushing creative tools including musical instruments, electronic equipment, arcade games, paints and brushes, computers, cameras and more, aiming to demonstrate how the iPad brings all the tools together in one device.

These images provoked significant backlash from the creative community and social media-using public, who interpreted it as a metaphor for Big Tech’s destructive impact on the creative industries and individual creativity.

The negative reception was so strong that Apple decided to cancel the planned TV spots for the ad and issued a public apology, acknowledging that the ad “missed the mark” by not aligning with their intention to celebrate and empower creatives .

Taking advantage of a perceived marketing opportunity, Samsung has now released its own ad, featuring a musician walking through the destructive wake of the hydraulic press and picking up a damaged guitar. The musician then sits next to an easel with a Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra with music notation on the screen, and continues to perform the piece of music. The video was shared by Samsung on X (Twitter) with the accompanying caption: “We would never crush creativity.”

Samsung making fun of Apple in its ads is nothing new. The company has mocked Apple for everything from design decisions like removing the headphone jack from the iPhone (which was also eventually removed) to Apple’s lack of a foldable smartphone line.