Apple Launches New Holiday-Themed 'Misunderstood' iPhone 5s Commercial

by

Apple today released a new television ad for the holidays, featuring the company's flagship iPhone 5s capturing and sharing holiday memories in the form of a video shared over Apple's AirPlay.

The song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" plays in the background as the iPhone 5s is used to capture video of a family engaging in holiday activities like decorating Christmas cookies, participating in a snowball fight, and decorating a Christmas tree. Later in the commercial, the video footage is played back to the family over AirPlay. "Happy Holidays" is displayed at the end of the video.


Apple historically releases a new video during each holiday season and in 2012, the company focused on the iPad and FaceTime. In 2011, the holiday commercial featured Santa using Siri on an iPhone 4s. While those previous videos were more product focused, the newest holiday ad focuses on iPhone users and the way their devices enhance their lives.

Update: A Tweet from Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller highlighting the new ad:


Update 2: In addition to the commercial, Apple has posted the full holiday video in the ad on its YouTube page. According to the video's description, the "Harris family home movie" was shot entirely on the iPhone 5s.

Top Rated Comments

doasis23 Avatar
doasis23
97 months ago
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?

Pathetic. The Apple-led new world is loathsome. "It's just like life, i'dnt it?"

You obviously didnt understand the commercial. It appears that the teen is ignoring the family the entire time playing on his phone. In actuality he is recording a video for his family to show how much he cares about them. Stop being so cynical.
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tbrand7 Avatar
tbrand7
97 months ago
I like it. I love Apple's commercials lately. It shows how their products are truly enriching peoples lives. While all their competitors (Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft, etc) commercials have been about bashing Apple's products instead of focusing on their own. I'm glad Apple is above those childish games :apple:
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sazivad Avatar
sazivad
97 months ago
Great ad, I like it.

I do find it interesting, though, that the whole ad focused around Christmas (the song, the Christmas tree, etc.) but at the end they went the the more all-inclusive Happy Holidays.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phil83 Avatar
phil83
97 months ago
Just saw that on NBC in between The Voice. At first I thought it was a Subaru commercial then realized it was an Apple commercial. Almost made me a little teary eyed!

Dam you, marketing people!
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dandy1117 Avatar
dandy1117
97 months ago
Great ad, I like it.

I do find it interesting, though, that the whole ad focused around Christmas (the song, the Christmas tree, etc.) but at the end they went the the "politically correct" Happy Holidays.

I never understand why some in the "war on Christmas" crowd object to the "Happy Holidays" as anything more than an accurate description of the season. Even most Christian Americans celebrate multiple holiday during the season, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve and Day! Then, of course, the term Happy Holidays is more inclusive of the holidays celebrated by many other Americans during this holiday. "Happy Holidays" is not a demonstration of "politically correct" cowardice but, rather, is just a more accurate salutation.

Geez, happy holidays! :-)
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HenryDJP Avatar
HenryDJP
97 months ago
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?

Pathetic. The Apple-led new world is loathsome. "It's just like life, i'dnt it?"

If you have nothing good to say then......:p
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Top Stories

tracking disabled ios 14 5

Analytics Suggest 96% of Users Leave App Tracking Disabled in iOS 14.5

Friday May 7, 2021 1:51 am PDT by
An early look at an ongoing analysis of Apple's App Tracking Transparency suggests that the vast majority of iPhone users are leaving app tracking disabled since the feature went live on April 26 with the release of iOS 14.5. According to the latest data from analytics firm Flurry, just 4% of iPhone users in the U.S. have actively chosen to opt into app tracking after updating their device...
Read Full Article • 226 comments
macbook colors 3d black bezels

Prosser: Next MacBook Air Could Come in Colors Similar to iMac

Friday May 7, 2021 6:55 am PDT by
According to Apple leaker Jon Prosser, Apple's upcoming release of the MacBook Air will feature various colors, similar to the colors in the newly released 24-inch iMac. In the latest video of his YouTube channel Front Page Tech, Prosser says the same source who accurately provided him information on the first Apple silicon iMac coming in colors has told him that he recently saw a prototype...
Read Full Article • 354 comments
tile amazon sidewalk integration

Tile to Leverage Amazon Echo and Ring Devices to Better Compete With AirTags

Friday May 7, 2021 2:07 pm PDT by
Amazon today announced that it is teaming up with Tile to add Amazon Sidewalk integration to Tile's Bluetooth trackers. Amazon Sidewalk, for those unfamiliar, is a network of Amazon Bluetooth devices that's designed to improve the connectivity of devices like the Ring and Amazon Echo. Tile will now be joining Amazon Sidewalk, and through this integration, Amazon Echo and Ring devices will be ...
Read Full Article • 169 comments
Top Stories 59 Feature

Top Stories: Epic Games vs. Apple, Hidden AirTag Mode, Apple Music Hi-Fi, Colorful MacBook Air?

Saturday May 8, 2021 6:00 am PDT by
While we wait for the newly introduced iMac, iPad Pro, and Apple TV models to launch later this month, this week saw the kickoff of the big Epic Games v. Apple trial, with lots of juicy tidbits coming out as the two sides make their arguments. This week also saw some rumors about a Hi-Fi tier for Apple Music, more biometric sensing capabilities for Apple Watch, and timing for the...
Read Full Article • 20 comments
zoom app icon

Apple Gave Zoom Access to Special API to Use iPad Camera During Split View Multitasking

Sunday May 9, 2021 2:00 am PDT by
Zoom, a hallmark platform used by millions during the global health crisis, has been given access to a special iPadOS API that allows the app to use the iPad camera while the app is in use in Split View multitasking mode. This case of special treatment was first brought to attention by app developer Jeremy Provost, who, in a blog post, explains that Zoom uses a special API that allows the...
Read Full Article • 323 comments
snapchat dark mode

Snapchat Rolls Out Dark Mode on iOS

Wednesday May 5, 2021 1:17 am PDT by
Nearly two years following the release of iOS and iPadOS 13, which included native, built-in, and systemwide dark mode, Snapchat, one of the world's most prominent social media networks, has finally rolled out a dark mode theme for iOS users. Snapchat began testing a dark mode theme of its app design late last year with a small group of iOS users. Now, Snapchat says that as of this week, it...
Read Full Article • 19 comments
tile sticker e1570533758981

Tile CEO: 'We Welcome Competition From Apple, But We Think It Needs to Be Fair'

Tuesday May 4, 2021 9:51 am PDT by
Just after Apple announced its AirTags, Tile CEO CJ Prober relayed his concerns about competing with Apple in the tracking space, and said that Tile would ask Congress to investigate Apple's business practices specific to Find My and item trackers. Prober this week did an interview with Bloomberg, where he further expanded on Tile's complaints about Apple and why he feels that Tile is...
Read Full Article • 453 comments
fortnite apple logo 2

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney Admits App Store's 30% Cut Is Similar to Consoles, Would Have Accepted Special Deal With Apple

Tuesday May 4, 2021 1:54 pm PDT by
Apple's legal battle with Epic Games is continuing on, and during the second day of the trial, Epic Games' CEO Tim Sweeney continued his testimony against Apple. Sweeney was grilled by Apple's lawyers, and made several points seemingly favorable to Apple. In addition to mentioning how he prefers Apple's iPhone and values Apple's privacy policies that he's aiming to dismantle, Sweeney...
Read Full Article • 210 comments
signal instagram ads3

Signal Shares the Instagram Ads Facebook Doesn't Want You to See

Wednesday May 5, 2021 1:29 am PDT by
Encrypted messaging app Signal has had a series of Instagram ads blocked from the social media platform, after it attempted to show users how much data the Facebook-owned company collects about them and how it's used to push targeted ads. In a blog post, Signal described how it generated the ads to show users why they were seeing them, simply by declaring upfront the information that the...
Read Full Article • 102 comments
iphone 12 preorder purple

Apple Begins Transition to Randomized Serial Numbers With Purple iPhone 12

Wednesday May 5, 2021 9:17 am PDT by
MacRumors previously reported about Apple's plan to switch to randomized serial numbers for future products starting in early 2021, and this transition has now started with the new purple iPhone 12 model in multiple countries. With assistance from Aaron Zollo, host of the YouTube channel ZolloTech, we can confirm that the purple iPhone 12 released last month has a new 10-character serial...
Read Full Article • 82 comments