Apple has pulled an ad depicting a toddler holding a dirty iPhone, with the caption reading, “Everything ok, It’s iPhone,” following a report from a Milanese citizen. The billboard once stood at the bridge that crosses Via Melchiorre Gioia in Milan. Here’s what you need to know.
According to the Italian National Authority for Children and Adolescents, Andrea Cangini, director of the Carta, Penna & Digitale Observatory of the Luigi Einaudi Foundation in Rome, had seen the billboard in Milan and sent a letter stating their “eyes are disturbed” by the ad, further stating: “Because it brings together two worlds that should remain distant: on the one hand, childhood, with its freedom, its innocence, its right to get dirty, bored, invent and know the world; on the other, a tool built to continually capture attention, create need and make it difficult to detach oneself. Those baby food-stained little hands represent an age when everything should still be discovered.”
Developmental psychotherapist and writer, Alberto Pellai, told Italian news outlet La Repubblica, “No, it’s not all ok – the iPhone’s advertising poster is a denial of everything science is trying to say to the world, and especially to the parents of preschoolers, who today represent the population most in need of awareness of the damage caused by digital devices at an early age. To me, who for years has been trying to prevent this very important issue-which has become a veritable public health emergency-this billboard appears like a gigantic provocation. In fact, this image perfectly shows the world the subtle work, constant and truly pathogenic, with which Big Tech has tried to convince us parents, for the last 15 years, that our children cannot imagine growing up without holding a digital device.”
The campaign is designed to demonstrate the iPhone 17 Pro’s durability and the toughness of its aluminum shell, not to promote “electronic babysitting.” Even though Apple hasn’t spoken publicly about the advertisement, the concern was sent to the IAP, an Italian advertising self-regulatory institute, for review and “potential action.” The company still pulled the ad and replaced it with a different “Everything ok, It’s iPhone” ad depicting an iPhone in the sand.
Cangini says that the removal of the ad brings them great satisfaction. “Numerous scientific studies warn of the risks that early smartphone use can pose to the psychophysical well-being and cognitive abilities of minors,” Cangini told La Repubblica.
What are your thoughts on Apple pulling the ad? Let us know.
