Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has set aside product promotion on its website temporarily to honor former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away this week at the age of 95. The company removed all of the product placements from its website and posted a picture of Mandela along with his birth year and death year.
Apple executives tweet about Mandela’s death
Executives at Apple made comments about Mandela’s life and death using Twitter. CEO Tim Cook and marketing chief Phil Schiller each tweeted quotes from Nelson Mandela.
“ What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others…..” Mandela 2002
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 6, 2013
“Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.” His Excellancy Nelson Mandela, 1918 – 2013 #NelsonMandela
— Philip Schiller (@pschiller) December 6, 2013
Amazing human being. Champion of freedom and human dignity. He set an example for all of the world. RIP Nelson Mandela. We miss you already.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 6, 2013
Apple honors Nelson Mandela’s legacy
This isn’t the first time Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has honored people on its website. However, the list of leaders the company has done this for is pretty short. Apple Insider reports that others who received this same honor included civil rights fighter Rosa Parks, as well as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Apple board member Jerry York.
Nelson Mandela leaves behind a legacy as a freedom fighter and South Africa’s first black president. He died Thursday while battling several major health issues. He spent nearly three decades in jail as he fought against apartheid and for equality in South Africa. Mandela wanted to see a peaceful end to apartheid, and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside former South African President F.W. de Klerk. He was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994 and served until 1999. During his time in office, he made sweeping changes to the South African constitution and averted a civil war that had been building for many years.
