A teenage boy spends his family’s Christmas gathering looking at his phone. Then the family sits down together and the film shows what he has been doing all along: he has recorded and edited a short film of the family’s holiday moments, all shot on his iPhone 5s.
The ad was released late in 2013 by the agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab in Los Angeles, and it was directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures. On August 18, 2014, it won the Emmy for outstanding commercial, beating spots from General Electric, Budweiser and Nike, according to Engadget.
Its trick is a change in perspective. It begins as a familiar complaint about young people and screens, then turns it around so that the phone is the way he shows he cares. Apple never had to explain the camera: the finished family film does it.
Not everyone accepted the message. Forbes called the ad a sad commentary on culture, while others found it warm. It stays memorable because it made a product feature feel like a family story.
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