Apple has been bullied into issuing an apology and pulling its latest promotional 10 minute film, the fifth instalment of the “Underdogs” series, after it sparked backlash in Thailand.
The company stated that the film, which was produced in collaboration with a Thai company and a Thai film crew, aimed to positively showcase Thai culture, including helpful Thais along the way and Thai business solutions.
But the parody and comedic approach fell deaf with many Thai viewers who took offence at, well, just about everything. Many of the social media criticism of the long-form ad have been bordering on hysterical and highly exaggerated.
But Apple acknowledged that the portrayal did not meet expectations for “reflecting modern Thai life and has apologised for any offense caused”.
The 10 minute mini-movie (filmed and edited on Apple products), which premiered on YouTube and was watched more than 7 million times. Initially the comments section was blocked, then the entire video was removed.
The comedic feature showed Apple employees navigating Thailand to meet clients’ needs, with one team member using Apple Vision Pro from the US while others experience various mini-adventures demonstrating Apple products. Along the way various ‘ colourful’ Thai citizens helped the hapless business tourists solve problems.
The film used a cinematic “sepia filter” in post-production, leading some viewers to feel it misrepresented contemporary Thailand by depicting it as it might have looked 30-50 years ago.
But many supporters of the video point out the hundreds of horror stories and depictions of violence on Thai fil and television any day of the week, noting that Apple was not being paid to produce the ad for Thailand or under any obligation to promote Thailand in any particular fashion.
They also pointed out that there were hundreds of videos on YouTube, produced by foreigners visiting Thailand, which depicted Thailand in a much more, deliberately, negative way.
The plot of the film was entirely fictional yet people seemed to criticise it for not being an “accurate depiction of modern Thailand”.
Nonetheless, the onslaught of negative social media bullied Apple into pulling the video from circulation, suspecting it may turn into a marketing backlash or boycott of Apple products, popular in Thailand, with the iPhone products leading the way.
