Apple is facing criticism in Italy after a billboard showing a toddler holding an iPhone raised concerns about how advertising presents very young children using smartphones. The ad has now been referred to three Italian regulators for review after the country’s children’s rights watchdog questioned the message behind the campaign.
The billboard appeared in Milan as part of Apple’s long-running “Relax, it’s iPhone” campaign and carries the Italian tagline “Tutto ok, è iPhone.” Other ads in the campaign show iPhones surviving heavy rain, falling from a table, or being carried in a dog’s mouth.
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However, the toddler image has attracted more attention because it places a smartphone directly in the hands of a very young child, which critics say presents early device use as something normal and harmless.
Italian watchdog raises concerns over Apple ad
Italy’s Autorità Garante per l’Infanzia e l’Adolescenza, known as AGIA, said the advertisement was brought to its attention by a Milan resident who described the image as disturbing and questioned why advertising standards allowed such a message.
AGIA also criticised the timing of the campaign, pointing to wider debates over minimum ages for access to digital devices and the growing concern around young children spending long periods in front of screens.
The watchdog said the billboard risks normalising what it described as “electronic babysitting,” where parents give smartphones or tablets to very young children for entertainment or distraction.
AGIA has now referred the case to AGCOM, Italy’s communications regulator, AGCM, the Italian Competition Authority, and IAP, the country’s advertising self-regulatory body, so each organisation can review the campaign and decide whether further action is needed.
Apple has not publicly responded to the criticism so far, while the billboard remains part of a wider debate in Italy over how technology companies should portray children and smartphone use in advertising.
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