Pulled at Apple's request?

An ad for Newsday's iPad app is disappearing from YouTube under mysterious circumstances, reports note. The video depicts a man browsing the app in his kitchen, only to destroy his iPad when he accidentally uses it as a flyswatter. The ad became extremely popular last weekend, logging over 600,000 views between Friday and Monday. But the copy linked to by major news outlets, such as the New York Times, has since been removed by Newsday.

"We have taken the commercial 'Flypaper' down and its short, glorious run appears to be over," says the VP of public affairs for Newsday, Paul Fleishman. The executive has declined to provide any further explanation, and at least one duplicate copy of the ad has also been pulled. Some other copies remain online, including the one below.

Because of Newsday's sudden backtracking on a successful marketing campaign, suspicion has emerged that the ad was actually removed as a result of complaints from Apple. A source claiming to work at Newsday suggests that Apple is indeed to blame. "Newsday got a cease and desist letter threatening all of our apps, if we did not remove the commercial immediately," the person says. "They took exception to the fact that the (iPad) glass shattered into large jagged pieces ... Your instincts are correct."

Apple has yet to respond to media inquiries.

by MacNN Staff