Rarely, Apple has updated videos posted on social media, including YouTube, of its iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus launch ad. The original advertisements used a snippet of the song Biggest by Idris Elba, with lyrics repeating the word “Biggest”.
Biggest or Niggest?
But what is the problem? The way the word was pronounced in the song caused some people to hear a racial slur instead of the basic message. The ad became something of a viral meme almost immediately after its release in September. Two months later, Apple reacted drastically by removing the lyrics from the commercial’s soundtrack entirely.
If you watch the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus launch video on YouTube today, you won’t hear any more words at all. Instead, only the instrumental soundtrack plays, which makes the commercial’s rhythmic scenes feel a bit odd, but was obviously done to avoid the unintended confusion of words that may have offended some people. However, Apple still cites Elba’s song in the video’s description.
The original lyrics were something like “Biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, it’s the biggest bounce of the summer”. This was obviously a reference to the “larger” new base iPhone, with the introduction of the iPhone 14 Plus, which has a 6.7-inch screen. We must believe that the pronounced syllables of “biggest” superimposed on the music could be perceived as the word “niggest” which can be translated as “the blackest”. We listened to it again, the difference is nevertheless perceptible.
In your opinion, was Apple right to do so?