Apple breaks silence on controversial new iPad Pro ad

Apple has responded to the widespread criticism it received after releasing an ad for the new iPad Pro.

The ad’s title was "Crush!" and it was posted on the tech giant’s YouTube channel and CEO Tim Cook's social media account on Tuesday, which showed an array of artistic tools and objects being destroyed.

In response to the flak, CBS News reported, Apple Vice President of Marketing Communications Tor Myrhen said in a statement to Ad Age: "Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it's incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world."

"Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry."

The controversial ad features a warehouse-like room filled with various creative tools, including a metronome and record player, a cathode ray tube (CRT) TV, paint cans, a globe, a piano, an '80s arcade game, a human head sculptural bust, and a trumpet.

All these things that symbolise an individual’s creativity are placed on a metal slab with another metal slab ominously hanging above them.

As soon as Sonny and Cher’s 1972 single "All I Ever Need Is You," begins in the background, the hanging metal slab starts descending, and ends up crushing all the things in a giant hydraulic press within about 40 seconds.

Afterwards, the hydraulic press rises to reveal a shiny, new iPad Pro, with a voiceover saying: "The most powerful iPad ever is also the thinnest."

The phone-making giant seems to have capitalized on the popular trend of Hydraulic press videos that show the mesmerising nature of collapse under pressure.

The ad highlights the powerful capabilities of its new iPad Pro, but the ad seems to have failed to resonate with many viewers.