Daring Fireball: Is the 'Crush' Backlash a Dead Canary in the Apple Brand Coal Mine?

This should all be eerily familiar to anyone who saw Microsoft fall from grace in the 90s. From being America’s favorite software company to being the bully pursued by the DOJ for illegalities. Just like Apple now, Microsoft’s reputation and good standing suddenly evaporated seemingly overnight once enough critical stories had accumulated about its behavior.

It’s not easy to predict these tipping points. Tim Cook enthusiastically introduced this awful ad with a big smile, and I’m sure he’s sitting with at least some sense of “wtf just happened?” and “why don’t they love us any more?”. Because companies like Apple almost have to ignore the haters as the cost of doing business, but then they also can’t easily tell when the sentiment has changed from “the usual number” to “one too many”. And then, boom, the game is forever changed.

Ever since this controversy regarding the “Crush” ad erupted yesterday, I’ve been wondering the same thing. As I wrote yesterday, when I first saw the ad during the keynote, I didn’t think twice about it. It didn’t strike me as particularly clever, but I didn’t suspect for even a second that it might prove even slighty controversial. It just didn’t strike a nerve for me. But clearly it stuck a nerve for many, evoking negative emotional responses — which for a brand like Apple’s, makes it ipso facto a failed ad.

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