Apple Looks to 2021 With Japanese New Year Ad Highlighting the App Store

Sunday December 27, 2020 6:14 pm PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple today shared a new App Store ad on its YouTube channel in Japan ahead of the New Year. The brief 15-second video highlights various apps available on the App Store for productivity, connecting with others, and gaming.

The ad emphasizes how the App Store can help people get off to a good start in 2021, complete with colorful animations. New Year or "Shōgatsu" is widely considered the most important holiday in Japan, observed on January 1-3.

Apple also typically holds a one-day New Year's shopping event in Japan in early January, offering Apple Store gift cards with the purchase of select Apple products, but it has yet to announce an event of this kind for 2021. This year, the event took place on January 2 at Apple Stores in Japan and through the Apple Store app.

Update: Apple has announced that the shopping event will be held January 2-3.

Tags: App Store, Apple Ads

Popular Stories

Apple's New Beats Pill Ad Leans Into Reality TV Show 'Love Island USA'

Wednesday June 3, 2026 11:08 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple today shared a new Beats Pill ad that pays tribute to the reality TV show Love Island USA, which returned for an eighth season this week. The ad does not mention Love Island USA, but the "Pill People" are said to have "entered the villa," which is a clear reference to the show. "If you're binging a full summer of island drama, you'll need battery life that can keep up," says Apple. ...

• 9 comments

Apple's New Ad Pitches Safari as a More Private Alternative to Chrome

Thursday June 4, 2026 4:24 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Apple has published a new ad to appeal to customers who prioritize privacy when browsing, suggesting that Safari is the one you should use if you want to "Keep data trackers off your back." In a new Privacy on iPhone segment titled "Safari helps block data trackers," the ad shows users of rival phones in everyday situations having to live with data trackers as they browse. The trackers are...

• 58 comments

Apple Touts 'World's Best' AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancellation in New Vini Jr. Ad

Thursday June 11, 2026 10:25 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today shared a new ad highlighting AirPods Pro 3 Active Noise Cancellation. The ad stars Vini Jr., a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Real Madrid and the Brazil national team, and it arrives as the 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway. In the spot, Vini Jr. dances through the streets to music only he can hear. Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak shared the video on social ...

• 29 comments

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams

71 months ago

japan is great and their culture is amazing in many ways. highly recommend people traveling to Japan after covid is over.

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

patent10021

71 months ago

I live down the street from the Kyoto Apple Store. The end of this year can't come any sooner. One bonus of Covid is there are no tourists so there are amazing pictures to be had everywhere.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

MacLC

71 months ago

Another noisy ad. Doesn’t matter what language it’s in, the ad’s soundtrack must be jarring to your ears. If it’s not, it’s probably a fake ad or a parody.

Nope, clicking the link it's from Apple Japan, so it's real 😢
It's the typical "dasai" hiphop that we've had to put up with over the past 15 years.

We have so much good pop music here, but Japanese marketers insert hiphop because it combines an "exotically foreign" beat with "safely understandable Japanese" lyrics.

There's nothing more astroturf than upperclass Japanese youth running around flashing bizarre hand gestures, saying, "yo, saggu raifu, yo" ("yo, thug life, yo") trying so hard to be repressed minorities despite being part of the affluent 99% majority.

As for what most Japanese listen to, it's something more along the lines of this, which is one of the songs to be performed at the Tokyo Olympics.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

madrigal77

71 months ago

japan is great and their culture is amazing in many ways. highly recommend people traveling to Japan after covid is over.

I normally go for New Year, but obviously didn’t this year. And I just saw there was a Covid exposure on the flight we normally take from Vancouver to Tokyo. I don’t know why all international passenger flights haven’t been shut down.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)