The observation that this ad is a bookend to the classic 1984 ad is interesting, in 1984 Apple is destroying a screen and freeing people to work on creative, human expression. Meanwhile in the M4 iPad ad, they're crushing the tools of creative human expression into a screen.<p>Edit: I bet the reaction to this would have been completely different if it was a cartoon instead of real life commercial.
What they should / could have done: Through the Looking Glass:<p>Start with an extreme close-up on the implements of human creativity. Pan across the paints, the instruments, canvas, start to zoom out... You keep zooming out until your viewpoint moves away back out through the surface of the screen. The screen tilts away from the viewer until it shows the iPad edge on.<p>Hmmm... Matrix references aside, that might be creepier. Captivity instead of creativity compressed.
The ad is kind of pretty and gently amusing. In the grand scheme of "offensive adverts" this doesn't wiggle the needle. I'm suspecting this is more likely a thinly veiled hype from Apple, or just a result of Apple being polarizing.
The ad does seem very tone deaf. It looks like they were going for “thinness” with the hydraulic press, but the ad instead evokes “destruction.” Apple’s brand has never tried to be about destruction, particularly the destruction of creative things, so it feels like a pretty big mistake.