Apple has removed a Milan billboard showing a toddler holding an iPhone after Italy’s children’s rights authority objected to the image and referred the case to multiple regulators.
The ad was part of Apple’s “Relax, it’s iPhone” campaign, which the company created in-house to showcase the device’s durability.
The campaign spans a series of scenarios in which an iPhone survives potentially damaging situations: a photo taken in heavy rain, a handset perched at the edge of a bathtub, a dog carrying it in its mouth, and a toddler clutching the phone in the awkward grip typical of young children. The campaign ran across New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco before extending to Europe.
Regulator steps in
When the toddler version appeared on a large billboard along Milan’s via Melchiorre Gioia, Italy’s Autorità Garante per l’Infanzia e l’Adolescenza, known as AGIA, received a complaint from a concerned citizen who argued the advertisement normalized “electronic babysitting.”
The agency agreed the image sent the wrong message and escalated the matter to three separate bodies: AGCOM, Italy’s communications regulator; AGCM, the Italian Competition Authority; and IAP, the country’s advertising self-regulatory institute, each asked to conduct their own review and consider action.
Within days, Apple replaced the billboard. According to Italian outlets, the toddler image has been removed, replaced by an advertisement promoting the iPhone’s Find My feature.
Intent versus reception
Apple’s creative team described the campaign as finding “a little beauty in everyday chaos” by depicting an iPhone that survives the wear and tear of everyday life.
The toddler image fit that logic: a small child’s unpredictable grip is, by that reasoning, just another stress test.
But the children’s rights watchdog interpreted the same image differently, seeing an endorsement of screen time for very young children rather than a demonstration of product durability.
Apple has not issued any public statement on the removal or the controversy, and it remains unclear whether the company will face any formal penalty from the regulators the AGIA contacted. The three bodies have been asked to carry out independent reviews, and no decisions have been announced.
