Stop the Presses! Samsung Brilliantly Mocks Apple's 'Crush!'

Behold: the greatest response ad of all time! (Well, the best one this week, at any rate.)

Samsung wants you to know that “Creativity cannot be crushed.” No matter what Apple’s recent messaging might suggest.

So, Samsung responded to its rival’s reviled “Crush!” commercial—which ignited global outrage and generated a headline-making apology—with an ad of its own.

As you’ll doubtless recall, “Crush!” erred badly in hyping the new iPad. It showed a massive hydraulic press destroying instruments of creativity, including a guitar. That approach offended folks in the ad biz and beyond in this era of AI, layoffs and Big Tech ubiquity.

Samsung’s effort—from BBH USA and director Zen Pace—picks up almost literally where Apple’s faux pas left off, ostensibly in the same industrial setting, but with a tuneful Gen Z twist:

Viewer takeaways from the respective outings might be…

Apple = malevolent, menacing, misguided. Samsung = mellow, melodious … and you gotta love those torn jeans.

Apple, kneecapped. What’s not to like?

“More than a response, this is a celebration of all creative souls. True artists, makers and creators know that creativity always finds a way,” says agency ECD Estefanio Holtz.

The House of Jobs will just have to think different next time. And that goes double for Bumble.