Apple has criticized a chilling carbon-free video featuring Octavia Spencer as Mother Nature, berating CEO Tim Cook and his staff about their green credentials
- Apple interrupted their iPhone 15 release event to show a skit that viewers called ‘cringey’ and ‘bizarre’
- The five-minute video boasted about the company’s environmental accolades
- Oscar winner Octavia Spencer played the role of ‘Mother Nature’ in the production
Apple has been criticized for a bizarre film in which CEO Tim Cook and his staff are berated for their green credentials by Mother Nature, played by Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer.
Apple unveiled their highly anticipated new iPhone 15 at the company’s ‘Wonderlust’ event in California. Along with the release of their desired new gadget, they released a less-than-desirable video skit that viewers are calling “cringey,” “corny” and “bizarre.”
The tech giant interrupted their release event to show the five-minute drama, which Apple CEO Tim Cook later posted on priorities. and we are deeply committed to doing our part.
“Today we had a special guest – a true force of nature – stop by to check on our progress.”
The special guest was ‘Mother Nature’ – played by Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer, 53 – who scolded Apple board members over the company’s carbon footprint but was repeatedly told about the efforts the company had made to cut their emissions to decrease.
Curiously, Cook – one of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States – was seen rehearsing lines at the table in front of the fictional character’s entrance, while other Apple staffers also joined in with well-rehearsed jokes and facts.
Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, 53, played the role of ‘Mother Nature’ in Apple’s ‘bizarre’ skit
The video was shown during Apple’s ‘Wonderlust’ event for the release of the new iPhone 15
Apple CEO Tim Cook also played himself in the chilling production that he later posted on X (formerly known as Twitter)
Journalist Peter Lloyd was one of many who mocked Apple’s glossy advertising
Employees then bragged about Apple’s environmental credentials, such as eliminating plastic from packaging and running on clean energy.
But many raised a proverbial eyebrow at the glossy skit, filmed at Apple’s massive One Infinite Loop headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Journalist Peter Lloyd said: ‘You are mass producing your products in China, one of the biggest polluters in the world.’
One claim from an “Apple employee” in the skit was that the company had planted “forests” in Paraguay and Brazil.
The tech company’s claim comes after a report in Science accused a group of giant companies – including Apple – of greenwashing by making grand claims about their contributions to the environment without providing detailed reports to shareholders or the public.
Marine biologist Tim Lamont was the lead author of the Science report. He told DailyMail.com: ‘No company reported perfectly across the board.’
Apple also boasted about the materials they use in their products in their skit, with one ’employee’ saying: ‘We also currently use 100 percent recycled aluminum in the casings of all our MacBooks, Apple TVs, Apple Watches…’
But Apple hasn’t always been proud of where their technology’s materials came from.
Apple was accused in 2016 by Amnesty International and African Resources Watch of lax oversight of its cobalt supplies.
Tim Cook, 62, is CEO of Apple Inc. since 2011
The Amnesty report alleged that children in the DRC as young as 12 were working underground, digging up the metal in mines to produce cobalt for tech giants like Apple.
In 2019, Apple was among a group of companies accused of exploiting child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo by African families who said their children died or were seriously injured while mining cobalt to be sold to the tech giants.
If a history of profiting from slave labor and a reputation for greenwashing aren’t enough to make a mockery of Apple’s boasts, perhaps the fact that the company mass-produces its products in China — the world’s biggest polluter — will.
The skit ends with Apple CEO Tim Cook promising “Mother Nature” that “by 2030, ALL Apple devices will have a net zero climate impact.”
Apple has been accused of greenwashing and profiting from slave labor, as well as criticized for mass-producing their products in China, the world’s biggest polluter
People on X were quick to condemn Apple for their video. One user said:
‘This Mother Nature skit was the weirdest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Clearly, Apple is also affected by the #WritersStrike.”
Someone else said: ‘This Apple ‘Mother Nature’ tree hugging video is so bizarre’.
Another user called it a “climate cult propaganda video.”