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Wait a minute, is the guy in the very beginning using a Slate iPhone 5 and not a Space Grey one?!

Yes, I think so, and it would fit. They're not advertising a particular piece of hardware, they're selling the lifestyle of being an Apple customer. This involves having older gear sometimes. I'd like if they went even further and gave the kid an old, jailbroken iPhone 4 with a cracked screen, but that's just me.

I could have done without the sappy Christmas music, but I liked the ad overall. I've found myself in situations like this before. I appreciate my friends and family, but I'm not always into groups. I can still have a good time at social events, but you might find me having conversations on the sidelines instead of participating in the main activity. Perhaps you can also relate if you've ever hosted an event where you've spent a big chunk of time cooking or managing details, while everyone else was socializing. Being part of the group, while still remaining separate from it.

Even though I like the ad, it's got a dark side. It acknowledges the negative impact that smartphones can have on social interactions, but then just glosses over it with a happy ending. Most people who eff around with their phone all day aren't making poignant home videos. Some are even bound up in exhausting, compulsive behavior. Apple lets themselves off a little too easily here. It'd be nice if they could address issues like isolation, addiction, or overconsumption in a more serious way.
 
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You're trying too hard to be put off by something that's not happening.

The only place the *word* Christmas appears is in the *secular* music. The cookies, tree, gifts, and everything else has no necessary religious connection. Much of the December celebration, including the tree, has pagan origins, and the cookies could as easily be called holiday cookies. And, as I said, the music itself is secular, except for the label.

It's a completely secular ad (ignoring the snow angels), and happy holidays is a perfectly suitable ending. If there had been a nativity scene, and they had sung a religious carol, you might have a point.

Agreed. I think the whole of the December celebration has pagan origins. Even the "christ" word itself, deriving from chrism, the anointing oil, is most likely about shamanic initiation into a healing trance by the use of a spiked oil.

Christianity co-opted as much as it could from the thousands of years of nature and celestial festal systems that it intruded upon as it conquered the Mediterranean and Europe.

Happy solstice.
 
Vast majority?

From Wikipedia:

"Christianity is the most popular religion in the United States, with around 73% of polled Americans identifying themselves as Christian in 2012."

I think that the percentage of practicing Christians is far lower than that in the USA.

I also know lots of Jews who eat ham and bacon and pork without any reservations. They also never cared to memorize a single Hebrew prayer, are clueless if they are asked if they even know what the Shema Yisrael is. Yet they "claim" to be Jewish. Are they in essence practicing Judaism? Hell no. They live purely secular lives and are secular persons. So why should they be counted among the "Jewish" population when it comes to religious polling?

I think that the NEXT time these polls ask "Are you Christian?" The accurate question should be "Do you consider yourself a practicing Christian?"
 
I hate Schiller's schmaltzy family values ads, effective though they may be with the moms and pops of middle America. If they need to do this, at least give it a little more realism and not this glossy Hallmark stuff.

It is interesting to see, though, how Apple has transitioned from targeting the "crazy ones" - artists and rebels or whatever - to becoming a true mainstream American mom and apple pie brand. Even though I don't like Apple's Disney-ish tendencies, it was a smart move by Cook to rid Apple of its "elitist" image.
When you start selling over 30 million iOS devices per quarter, the snobby image disappears automatically. Not really a decision made by Cook, it's just what happens when your products get incredibly popular.
 
Sorry but I really did not like this ad. The ad highlighted a kid that was not participating in the family holiday fun. Instead he was messing around with his phone, seemingly ignoring the people around him and the interaction they were seeking from him. Sure in the end he was actually making a video rather than playing Candy Crush.

It appears you misunderstood him too!! :rolleyes:
 
I liked it but I don't think it would make some one not using iOS buy into iOS. They should have showed more of the Apple TV and told people it's an Apple TV. They could have done this just by showing the top of it where it says Apple TV.
I disagree. These ads are about creating brand value. It's not about the products, it's about what Apple wants the products to do: to enrich the lives of its customers. This ad shows that. There are multiple ways to do so, one way is to make a home video and play it full screen via an Apple TV. But that's not what this commercial's about, it's about showing that Apple wants to enrich the lives of its customers.

If you want details on how to play videos full screen wirelessly, you go to Apple.com or to an Apple Store. :)
 
This is one of the worst Apple commercials to date. I would say it is even worse than the dreaded "Genius" advertisements that ran during the 2012 Olympics. The emotional people in this ad, combined with the dramatic music, make for an overly touchy feeling that has nothing to do do with the product it (barely) advertises.

It's a brand ad. It's not a product ad.
 
According to Phil Schiller's tweet the title of the ad is "misunderstood". Based on some of the comments here I'd say that was an apt title. :)

Yeah, some people clearly don't get it. You're supposed to think the kid is just off there by himself not being involved, texting or playing games, and then the surprise is he was actually very involved, he just was taking video clips of the things that were going on and making a nice video to show on Christmas.

I see no indication that he was totally uninvolved, quite the opposite. He's there participating in each activity, we just don't see those parts because the ad is supposed to be "misunderstood" until you get the video at the end. He wasn't sitting alone, he was there with everybody, and we do see him interacting.

The ad, really, is to tell parents that if they get their kids nice fancy iPhones for Christmas, they won't just be sitting there staring at their screens all day consuming mindless entertainment like those other phones. Instead, it will be a tool they can use to be creative and make something beautiful. Every parent wants to think their kid is going to be the next Spielberg or whatever. This is pretty much an ad for iMovie and the iPhone's video capabilities, with a special mention of AirPlay at the end.


And furthermore, I take offense at the notion that everyone must be totally social all the time. Geez, some of you extroverts are totally clueless. There are people, some studies peg it as high as 75% of the population, who are introverts, and need some down time to recharge their batteries, rather than being bombarded constantly with shallow social interaction. My ideal Christmas is a quiet one, sitting around the tree with close family, sipping eggnog and reading books, and hardly talking at all unless there's something important to say. I think a hug says more than a long conversation, any day.
 
You're trying too hard to be put off by something that's not happening.

The only place the *word* Christmas appears is in the *secular* music. The cookies, tree, gifts, and everything else has no necessary religious connection. Much of the December celebration, including the tree, has pagan origins, and the cookies could as easily be called holiday cookies. And, as I said, the music itself is secular, except for the label.

It's a completely secular ad (ignoring the snow angels), and happy holidays is a perfectly suitable ending. If there had been a nativity scene, and they had sung a religious carol, you might have a point.

OK near the beginning of the ad, the kid doing the filming gets a hug from his grandfather and says "Merry Christmas". Does that make it a religious ad? Did I even refer to religion? I just don't understand what's so difficult about using that phrase. Obviously the use of " Happy Holidays" was intentional. And a lot of businesses, pop culture, media, etc. in the United States have gone the politically correct route and replaced the word Christmas with Holiday. Since the song used in the ad has Christmas in the title would anyone really have been offended if the end of the ad said Merry Christmas instead? Or how about nothing at all and just showed the Apple logo?

Anyway I'll stop now because overall I think its a fantastic add (YouTube and Twitter users concur), and probably the best Apple ad since the iPad 'Technology' ad from 2011. The advertising folks over in Redmond should take note.
 
No diversity

More white people, please!!!

WTF?!? This just doesn't feel like any corporate America spot. I haven't seen an ad this homogenous in decades.

Seriously, I'm surprised there wasn't any burning crosses or swastikas in it. The soundtrack should have been "O Tannenbaum."

I'm a white male that does video editing (mostly TV spots) for a living, and this spot makes me sick. Personally, I can't stand when companies go out of there way to show diversity in their ads. But this... This shows none whats-so-ever. I expect much more from Apple.

"Misunderstood"? Ya think? Explain it then Apple!
 
More white people, please!!!

WTF?!? This just doesn't feel like any corporate America spot. I haven't seen an ad this homogenous in decades.

Seriously, I'm surprised there wasn't any burning crosses or swastikas in it. The soundtrack should have been "O Tannenbaum."

I'm a white male that does video editing (mostly TV spots) for a living, and this spot makes me sick. Personally, I can't stand when companies go out of there way to show diversity in their ads. But this... This shows none whats-so-ever. I expect much more from Apple.

"Misunderstood"? Ya think? Explain it then Apple!
If the parents are both white, their grandparents and children are kind of likely to also be white. What you're asking for is what you "can't stand". Come again when this isn't about tight relationships in a white family.
 
If the parents are both white, their grandparents and children are kind of likely to also be white.

Thank you, oh wise one, for educating us on that.

You missed my entire point.
 
This ad is simple amazing without any mention of hardware specification or mockery of competitor products. It shows incorporating Apple products in your life. I would love to see many of such home made videos from iPhone users to cherish their memories.


I read all the comments and discussion about christmas and religion. I think people are overreacting about Holiday vs Christmas concept or being secular.

I am from Mumbai,India born in Hindu family. We are definitely not developed as US or other western countries but can call ourselves secular. Because of diversity of people at workplace and neighbourhood,we celebrate all festivals from all major religions like Diwali, Eid and yes Christmas too. I can send/receive "Merry Christmas" messages from my muslim friends. Because we think festivals are celebrating with your friends and family irrespective of your religious belief.

So guys "Merry Christmas" to you all :)
 
It's really heartwarming to watch these "people" slash tv commercial stand-ins focusing on their iPhones instead of each other. Is this an inadvertent parody?

... he typed furiously from the basement with his Samsung Galaxy Note 3, while ignoring the world around him...
 
I liked it but I don't think it would make some one not using iOS buy into iOS. They should have showed more of the Apple TV and told people it's an Apple TV. They could have done this just by showing the top of it where it says Apple TV.

It wasn't an ad for iOS or Apple TV. It was an ad for the iPhone.

jeez I don't get the whole "there is a war on christmas" crowd.
Does it have to be full on bell ringing with everyone in green and red from July until Dec before you lot will be happy?

Coining the phrase "Happy Holidays" was not motivated by a Liberal University Think Tank. It reeks of Madison ave marketing. A phrase turned and polished to appeal to the most demographics. Whether someone celebrates Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Christmas or Winter Solstice...they can be assured that Walmart or Target or whomever values their patronage.
It's not politically correct, it's commercially correct for chrissakes.

The song Happy Holiday dates to the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, sung by Bing Crosby. The movie also introduced us to White Christmas. There's nothing politically correct about it. There's nothing new about it. And of course both songs were written by the very Jewish Irving Berlin.

The war on Christmas people aren't happy unless 365 days a year other people are made to know their place as inferior, second class, not quite human. It's not surprising they're exactly the same people who insist "they just don't want it to be called marriage" if it's two men or two women. It's all about reinforcing their insecurities and making them feel superior to everyone else.

So you know what? To those people who insist on being insulted by Happy Holidays, I DO NOT wish you a Merry Christmas OR happy holidays. You sure as hell don't want anything good for me or anyone else who doesn't conform to your white, Christianist, straight world view.
 
More white people, please!!!

WTF?!? This just doesn't feel like any corporate America spot. I haven't seen an ad this homogenous in decades.

Seriously, I'm surprised there wasn't any burning crosses or swastikas in it. The soundtrack should have been "O Tannenbaum."

I'm a white male that does video editing (mostly TV spots) for a living, and this spot makes me sick. Personally, I can't stand when companies go out of there way to show diversity in their ads. But this... This shows none whats-so-ever. I expect much more from Apple.

"Misunderstood"? Ya think? Explain it then Apple!


So you're bashing them for not being diverse enough, while making it clear you would've bashed them if there was diversity. Got it!

By the way, diversity isn't just skin deep. How do you know the kid making the video wasn't somewhere on the autism spectrum, or had some sort of social anxiety? He barely verbalized all of two words in the entire scenario, but still went to great pains to express himself in an unconventional manner, the hallmark of such differences. But all you did was focus on his skin color. How inconsiderate of you!
 
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Um, no, a large portion of the Bible is dedicated to that day.

While that may or may not be true, there's certainly nothing in the bible about getting into fist fights at Wal-Mart over a flat panel TV, which is what the Christmas season has become.

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I think that the percentage of practicing Christians is far lower than that in the USA.

I also know lots of Jews who eat ham and bacon and pork without any reservations. They also never cared to memorize a single Hebrew prayer, are clueless if they are asked if they even know what the Shema Yisrael is. Yet they "claim" to be Jewish. Are they in essence practicing Judaism? Hell no. They live purely secular lives and are secular persons. So why should they be counted among the "Jewish" population when it comes to religious polling?

I think that the NEXT time these polls ask "Are you Christian?" The accurate question should be "Do you consider yourself a practicing Christian?"

Judaism is an interesting case since it's both a religion and an ethnicity. I am by no means a religious Jew, I am exactly what you described above, with a bit of Atheism thrown in too, but I'm still ethnically Jewish and I can't change that. So the question "Are you Jewish?" needs to be more specific, because I would answer "Yes, but....." to that question.
 
Sorry but I really did not like this ad. The ad highlighted a kid that was not participating in the family holiday fun. Instead he was messing around with his phone, seemingly ignoring the people around him and the interaction they were seeking from him. Sure in the end he was actually making a video rather than playing Candy Crush.

Seemed a little off base for Apple to be highlight exactly what is most irritating about cell phones. Showing people with their heads stuck in the phone rather than interacting with others around them. In other ads Apple has highlighted how the phone can be used to increase connections with people - FaceTime. In this ad Apple showed someone ignoring human interaction to use his phone.

I think you missed the point.

Yes, it looked like he was ignoring everyone else to play with his phone. And in the commercial, his family thought the same thing -- remember his father throwing a sock at him to get him to put it down?

In the end, he plays the video montage he has made of the family, including the sock thrown at him. He wasn't just playing with his phone: he was recording his family's holiday celebration, preserving the memory for the future.

I saw the commercial last night, and stopped to watch it because I didn't know where it was going, or even what product they were advertising -- I didn't recognize the iPhone on our small screen. I figured it out just before the Apple logo went up on the screen.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple's ad agency wins a few awards for this commercial.

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The war on Christmas people aren't happy unless 365 days a year other people are made to know their place as inferior, second class, not quite human. It's not surprising they're exactly the same people who insist "they just don't want it to be called marriage" if it's two men or two women. It's all about reinforcing their insecurities and making them feel superior to everyone else.

If you think the people that are waging a "war on Christmas" are the same people that oppose gay marriage, you are hopelessly confused.
 
Creative Christmas

I have always enjoyed using Apple products because of the creativity they encourage. Any tool can be a distraction, time suck or a source of creative expression. Great job showing the reality of teenage life mixed with the creativity that Apple devices encourage.
 
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