An Apple billboard is turning heads for all the wrong reasons

Lately we’ve been wondering what’s going on in Apple’s ad department. We’ve seen a series of missteps from the company, with not one but four (4!) ads ending up getting pulled over the last year or so. What could the company possibly do to raise eyebrows next? Why, put up an incredibly phallic looking billboard, of course.

As part of its new Shot on iPhone, Drawn on iPad campaign, Apple has launched a series of ads featuring smartphone photography overlaid with digital illustrations. But one example is raising eyebrows in Miami – and on Reddit.

The ad in question features a photograph of an underwater shark, along with an illustrated diver with an octopus on their finger. So far, so normal (ish). But at first glance, that finger/octopus combo looks rather, well, proud.

“What’s the first thing you see in this ad? Don’t tell me I’m the only one,” one Redditor asks. Another adds, “Can’t believe it got through legal.” Others have pointed out that the effect not have been quite so obvious when Apple was approving the ads. “I suppose it was much smaller, maybe even different proportions on the drawing table.” It’s also worth noting that in the digital version of the artwork (above), the difference in colour between the octopus and finger are much more pronounced.

People have been asking lately what’s happened to Apple’s previous advertising magic. Gone are the days of iconic campaigns like ‘Think Different’ and ‘1984’, replaced instead by frivolous campaigns featuring Memoji. At least in this case, any offensiveness is arguably in the eye of the beholder – which is more than can be said for other recent Apple efforts.