Apple has shared a new television ad called "Siri and Liam" to celebrate Earth Day, which is today, April 22. In the 15-second spot, Siri asks Apple's recycling robot Liam what he is doing for Earth Day, before it humorously takes apart the iPhone. It is Apple's second Earth Day ad, the other being "Renewable Energy," shared in the past 24 hours, and continues the company's environmental push this month.
Apple first introduced Liam at its "Let Us Loop You In" media event in March as a robot that can disassemble old iPhones and recover recyclable materials. The robot can deconstruct nearly all parts of the iPhone in order to rescue cobalt and lithium from the battery, separate gold and copper from the camera, extract silver and platinum from the main logic board, and more.
Apple's Earth Day initiatives this year include turning Apple Store logos green, providing retail employees with green t-shirts, offering a selection of Earth-inspired Apple Music playlists, and launching an "Apps for Earth" promotion in support of the World Wildlife Fund. The company also released its annual environmental responsibility progress report [PDF] covering the 2015 fiscal year last week.
Top Rated Comments
Liam is a recycling bot, so that's the "pro green" message, even though in reality Liam is a lot more about cashing in on old/broken hardware by extracting precious metals (but don't tell anyone that cynical bit, it's Earth Day).
Yeah. What you just described is what is known as "recycling". I don't quite see what would be construed as cynical.And the slow but steady decline in the quality of Apple's ads continues.....
It's no decline. It's a good ad. It's funny. Or did you miss that?[doublepost=1461337313][/doublepost]
I wonder if Liam has cousins that are quietly building the next model... you know, instead of the poorly paid Chinese workers.
They're not poorly paid. They're happy to work for Apple. There'll always be a need for human skills.[doublepost=1461337435][/doublepost]
something about this is morbid to me
It's called a joke. And they're just machines. Nothing morbid about it.