People notice incredibly awkward X-rated mistake in Apple's new billboard ad

Apple has always been good at getting people's attention with its adverts, as the likes of Ridley Scott's 1984 Super Bowl ad, the iPod Silhouette campaign, and the harrowing 911 commercial have proved the tech giant is something of a marketing whizz.

In 2025, Apple is continuing to show off its diverse portfolio of products as we gear up for the release of the next iPhone. While things are soon set to go into overdrive in promoting the iPhone 17, it's currently continuing with its 'Shot on iPhone, Drawn on iPad' campaign that's supposed to showcase the synergy between two of the company's most popular products.

In the aftermath of the new Liquid Glass update getting a frosty reception, there are more questions about what's going on in Apple's design departments.

We're not sure how this one got through the marketing department without anyone flagging it, but now, Apple execs could be left looking a little red-faced thanks to inadvertently plastering a giant penis on the side of a building.

13 photographers and eight illustrators joined forces with Apple across seven countries, hoping to show off their talents in conjunction with a global campaign from TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles.

Using Apple Pencil and Procreate, they've created giant images, including a man diving into a whale, a woman checking her reflection in a skyscraper, and one dude sleeping soundly on a cloud.

As reported by the Miami New Times, Apple's latest 'Shot on iPhone, Drawn on iPad' billboard features what looks like a 15-foot cartoon phallus clinging onto a shark. The photograph of the shark was shot on an iPhone, with one creative artist drawing a cheerful diver with an octopus on their finger.

It's already somewhat erotic as the smiling octopus suckles on the diver's finger, but from a distance, you can't help but notice how the image looks like a giant red member.

The shark artwork comes from the Brooklyn-based Spencer Gabor, who's shown other examples of the billboard being displayed in the likes of Zurich.

Over on Reddit, onlookers couldn't help but comment on the Miami billboard, with many confused at how no one at Apple spotted the saucy scene.

One person joked: "Someone should take a long, hard look at that."

Another added: "Maaaan, whoever cleared that is getting steamrolled. Tbf, image up close? Kind of there but not your first thought. From a distance, though? OOF. That's just a d*ck. And literally the ONLY easily noticeable thing on that image from afa,r thanks to the contrasting colors."

A third critic said: "This latest series of ads are so off-brand, it’s disturbing. Yeah,t there’s a d*ck there, sure, but the different fonts and the cartoons just seem so amateur. They used to have better creative."

Not everyone was convinced, and as well as someone saying they thought it was a SpongeBob SquarePants character, another concluded: "I wouldn’t have seen a dick if someone hadn’t suggested it was there. Who’s d*ick has barbs?"

Then again, as Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."