Apple is justifiably famous for its marketing.
You could even argue that the company’s ad campaigns are as well-known as its products: Think Different. Dancers with iPods. And, of course, the 1984 Super Bowl ad for the Mac.
But now, for some reason, Apple is developing a different reputation in adland: the company that pays for ad campaigns and then pulls them.
Last year, Apple rolled out an ad for its iPad Pro and then apologized and yanked it, after online complainers complained that the vibes were off.
Earlier this spring, Apple axed an ad promoting an AI-powered version of Siri, once it became clear that version of Siri wasn’t going to be available for some time.
And now Apple has disappeared another ad campaign, though I don’t have any idea why.
This one features Martin Herlihy, the “Saturday Night Live” writer and actor — he’s part of the “Please Don’t Destroy” troupe that specializes in pre-recorded videos, like this one with Taylor Swift. And the premise is that he’s going to teach kids how to convince their parents to buy them a Mac for college. The campaign also came with a kinda clever “Parent Presentation,” which you could theoretically download as a PowerPoint and customize in order to close the sale with mom and dad.
The ad went up on YouTube and Apple’s site last week, and then disappeared in the last few days.
But you can still see it, for some reason, on the site we used to call Twitter.
Apple just released a 7 minute video and an 81 slide presentation on how to convince your parents to buy you a Mac for college.
The presentation is available on Apple’s website as a Keynote, PowerPoint, and Google Slides file. pic.twitter.com/aMQwvBJntR
— Aaron (@aaronp613) June 20, 2025
I’ve now watched this thing a few times, and I can’t imagine what part of the ad offended or worried someone in or outside of Apple. (And yes, I’ve asked the company.)
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If you love conspiracy theories, you could imagine that maybe this is actually a galaxy-brained viral campaign, and that Apple pulled the ad so typers like me would give them free publicity by typing about it. The way some political campaigns will make an incendiary ad that’s designed to generate coverage, even if it only runs once.
But I’m not a big conspiracy theory person — the truth is usually much dumber than the theory. And in any case, this doesn’t seem like Apple’s style, at all.
So. You tell me: What’s happening here?
