Apple removes vocals from iPhone 14 launch ad after lyrics were mistaken for racial slurs
Apple removes vocals from iPhone 14 launch ad after lyrics were mistaken for racial slurs
Apple has updated videos on social media, including YouTube, to advertise the launch of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. The original commercials used part of the song The Greatest by Idris Elbawith the text repeating the word ‘Greatest’.
However, the way the word was said in the song meant that some people heard a racially offensive slur. It kind of became a viral meme almost immediately after the ad came out in September. Two months later, however, Apple has responded by removing the vocals from the ad’s soundtrack entirely.
If you look iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus launch YouTube ad today, now you don’t hear vocals at all. Instead, only the instrumental backing track plays throughout the duration of the video. This no longer matches the rhythms of the ad scenes, but is obviously done to avoid the inadvertent confusion of words noticed by many.
Apple still credits the song Elba in the video description, but all that can be heard is the backing track.
The original lyrics went something like “Biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, it’s the biggest dance of the summer.” This was clearly a reference to the ‘biggest’ launch of a new iPhone yet, with the introduction of the larger 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus screen. But without context, the stressed syllables of ‘greatest’ overlaid with music meant people could hear the n-word.
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