Apple’s gorgeously detailed holiday ad has a moral for all creatives

“Lovingly, meticulously crafted through a combination of detailed miniatures and digital animation, Apple’s ‘Share Your Gifts’ is the tech brand’s most ambitious holiday ad to date—and one that only gets more impressive with each subsequent viewing,” David Griner writes for AdWeek. “The nearly 3-minute spot has the atmosphere of a fairy tale but is firmly rooted in modern culture, showing a young creative soul named Sofia who spends her free time at her MacBook, working away at… something.”
“Developed by Apple’s bespoke creative agency, TBWAMedia Arts Lab, and animation house Buck Productions, ‘Share Your Gifts’ has quite a bit of DNA in common with Apple’s previous holiday ads, including the much-admired “Misunderstood” spot from 2013, which put the brand on the map of A-list Christmas-season advertisers alongside British brands like John Lewis and Sainsbury’s,” Griner writes. “But while ‘Misunderstood’ was the story of someone creating in apparent isolation and ultimately surprising his loved ones with a heartwarming video, ‘Share Your Gifts’ is less direct. Instead, we don’t learn what Sofia was making — but we do learn the lesson that sharing your creations, while sometimes terrifying, is vital.”
“Among the many visual Easter eggs hidden throughout the spot, there’s also an audio surprise you wouldn’t be able to guess just from listening: Like the fictional star of the ad, the musician behind the commercial’s song is a young artist who began by writing pieces on her Mac,” Griner writes. “Billie Eilish, a 16-year-old American singer, recorded the track ‘Come Out in Play’ specifically for the ad.”

 
Read more, and see all of Apple’s holiday ads over the years, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: According to the ad’s creators, research has shown that 7 out of 10 people feel they’re not creative or not living up to their creative potential, so this ad will hit the target in at least 70% of viewers!
We like it. Beautiful song plus beautifully-rendered computer animation telling a timeless message; what’s not to like? — MacDailyNews, November 20, 2018

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Apple debuts annual holiday ad: ‘Share Your Gifts’ – November 20, 2018