woops. Apple pissed off everyone with this ad

and what to do about the TikTok ban

Author

Erica Mallett
May 12, 2024

Hey Climbers, today —

  • 😬 How Apple misread the room with their latest ad

  • 🤔 Whether you should quit TikTok ahead of the potential ban

🥁🥁🥁 New segment alert: the latest drama brewing in the world of creativity…

CREATIVI-TEA ☕
Why Apple’s new ad missed the mark

In Apple’s new ad, a big concrete machine slowly crushes a room full of instruments, art, paint, toys and other human joy-bringing-things.

Once the concrete barge comes back up, we see that it has all been condensed into one item: the new (thinner) Ipad.

I’ve got a background in advertising so I can just imagine the conversations that led to the creation of this ad.

“ok, so like, it’s thinner, and it’s full of stuff creative people love, what if we physically showed all of that stuff getting SQUISHED INTO IT!!”

But sometimes businesses get so stuck up their own asses that they forget to poke their head out and check the sentiment in the world.

So why’d it get received so poorly?

Amidst endless conversations of songs stealing the likeness of musicians, actors striking to protect their jobs, copywriters being entirely replaced by Chat GPT & how embarrassingly addicted we all are to our devices, people are really, really sensitive about human creativity right now.

Apple has since pulled the ad and apologised.

What do you think? Are people over-reacting? hit reply and lmk.

That’s the creativi-TEAAAA!

CRINGE MOUNTAIN ACADEMY STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
280% increase in audience engagement

Cringe Mountain Academy student Amanda just wrapped up her 90 days and I couldn’t be more stoked with her results. Here’s what she said:

Cringe Mountain Academy was invaluable not just for my social media journey, but for my entire personal brand, creative process, and even my identity.

Erica shares diverse, actionable advice that includes the “why” behind the “what,” and helps put structure in place to get clear on who you are and what you’re doing. I gained so much from this course that it felt more like personal development than social media coaching!

AND my account grew 20% in followers, and 280% in engagement over the course. Thank you, Erica!!

CMA is the 90 day program transforming stuck & scattered creatives into confident creators with x-factor. So what are you waiting for? Click below and let’s chat!

CREATOR UPDATES
What to do about the US TikTok ban

Something I’ve been repeatedly asked over the last few weeks:

“If TikTok is maybe getting banned in the US, should I even bother trying to build an audience on there right now?”

That’s like borrowing a book from a friend then asking, “If I maybe have to return this book one day should I even bother reading it?”

Um? Duh!! flip those pages!! Gobble up that smutty fairy fantasy!!

Me? I do not think the ban is going to happen.

And even if it did, the very earliest it would come into effect is 9 months from now. Many experts say that timeframe would likely be extended by complex legal battles, meaning it’d be more like 12-24 months.

Do you know how much you could change your life with TikTok in 24 months?

The way I see it:

If you’re looking for an excuse not to, this is a perfect out.

But it’s not a real out.

But it is a vital reminder to build up an owned audience via something like a newsletter.

Social media platforms are not ours. They’re rented space.

That’s why it’s sooo important to use platforms like TikTok and Instagram to funnel your audience into a more direct channel relationship.

That way, if your account gets deleted tomorrow, you still have access to your audience and they still have access to you.

(Building a magnetic newsletter is something I teach in Cringe Mountain Academy)

Ok that’s all for now,

Til next time,

Keep Climbin’

Erica x

p.s I’d love to hear how I can make this newsletter more helpful for you! Please hit reply and tell me what you’d love for me to cover in the next issue <3