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Ad of the Week: Creativity goes on

AgencyTBWA/ Media Arts Lab
ClientApple

Apple founder Steve Jobs once said that “Creativity is just connecting things.” He was specifically celebrating the way that a diverse range of experiences can fuel the creative process which without “enough dots to connect, would cause your thinking to become too linear and too isolated.

So what would he say if almost all traditional connections were severed because of a single global pandemic?

Jobs would more than likely point to the thriving creativity of people to create a whole host of new connections – predominantly fueled by the devices and technology that his company has created.

So if there is one thing that is true about the pandemic, it is that it hasn’t put a damper on people’s creativity. This is evident through all of the ideas that make up Apple’s new pandemic inspired advert.

Set to “Asleep at the Parade,” by The Young Ebenezers, the commercial, in line with Apple’s ongoing “Behind the Mac” campaign, has once again pulled together user based content of people both famous and unknown using their creativity to make really good and interesting stuff whilst in lockdown as a minimalist celebration of life in quarantine.

“Creativity Goes On” is a brilliant cross-section of our culture at its best in such unexpected circumstances that we find ourselves in. What I find most impressive is that it was developed, compiled, approved and launched in a span of just two weeks. And follows in the footsteps of previous Apple campaigns including “Behind the Mac” and “Shot on iPhone,” (both of which are fueled by user-created content). This time around, Apple has chosen not to focus on one particular product but instead has chosen to focus on the creative minds who use them.

While many brands are choosing to take positions and messages of solidarity, Apple has instead chosen to shine a light on all of the good things that are happening in a world that is being fragmented by Coronavirus.

What truly makes this advert stand out is that 70% of the footage that was used in the original rough cut has made it into the final spot, including video from John Kransinski, the New York Ballet, Lily James, Oprah and Tee Ken Ng. The only key changes were to include newer footage found along the path of creating the ad.

When launching the new ad, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the opportunity to describe creativity as “the light that shows us what is possible, the fuel that drive progress, the beauty that makes us human.”

There is nothing that says that clearer than the adverts endline;

Creativity goes on

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