Cool or cringe? Apple's unhinged TikTok videos are dividing fans

Have you heard the one about the lemon FaceTiming the lime? Me neither, but Apple seems to think it's pretty funny. Last week we declared that Apple was rediscovering its sense of fun with its new product ads, which feature bolder and more colourful graphics than we've seen from Apple in years. But these are nothing compared with the zest on display on TikTok.

Apple has wiped its entire archive of TikTok videos, and has instead been posting a series of short, surreal clips that seem designed to highlight the various colours of the new MacBook Neo. And if you thought the retro colours of the Neo were baiting Gen Z, wait until you see these.

From MacBooks in (grossly oversized) jeans pockets to pink compact mirrors shaped like the iBook G3, the videos are filled with bizarre non sequiturs and tableaus. The whole vibe is deeply irreverent – which isn't exactly a word we'd have used to describe Apple's marketing output in recent years. Even when it tried to be fun, Apple always came across as afraid to look unpolished. Not so here.

"Bits and pieces of that old Apple charm is leaking through recently I love it," one Redditor comments on the ads, while another adds, "The lemon face timing the lime got me. That was pretty good." Another user sums up, "Honestly, I love it. I hate modern ads, they're too formal and safe it feels like a corporate training video."

But head to more 'traditional' Apple news outlet MacRumors and you'll find more damning comments. "Small things amuse small minds," one user laments. "How many 13 year olds did Apple hire to create this awkward content?" Weeps another. One suspects these users might not be in the target demographic for the ads.

As for me, well, yes, the ads are making me feel old. I'm struck by that sinking feeling that the joke is going over my head not because it isn't funny, but because I'm starting to lack the online literacy for it (but really, is a lemon talking to a lime really that funny?). Still, if the ads are speaking to young people, I'm all for it. And more importantly, if Apple is moving towards less stuffy advertising horizons, bring it on.

For the final word on these ads, I asked a Gen Z member of the Creative Bloq team for her take: "I think they're cute! I like that they're leaning into the Gen Z vibe. Tonally it's great, not trying too hard but omitting the stuffy corporate seriousness of Apple branding." So there we have it.