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Apple wins 2014 ‘Outstanding Commercial’ Emmy Award for ‘Misunderstood’ holiday ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhwhnEe7CjE

Here’s some good news for Apple amid several months of controversy surrounding the Cupertino-company’s marketing efforts: Apples’ 2013 Holiday season television commercial “Misunderstood” has won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for most “outstanding commercial” in 2014. The award was announced on the Emmy’s winners list last night, and the Creative Arts Emmy Awards are presented for “guest performers on television dramas and comedy series, as well as the many talented artists and craftspeople behind the scenes to create television excellence.” The main, televised Emmy Awards ceremony takes place on August 25th…

Screenshot 2014-08-17 13.47.07

Apple’s Misunderstood ad features the iPhone 5s, Apple TV, and AirPlay to show how a movie can be filmed, edited, and presented via an iPhone. The Apple ad was nominated alongside advertisements from General Electric, Nike, and Budweiser. Apple’s winning advertisement was produced by longtime advertising and marketing partner Media Arts Lab of TBWA in Los Angeles, California. Over the past few months, Apple has been reducing its reliance on Media Arts Lab and has bolstered its in-house marketing efforts.

Apple’s advertisements and marketing strategies have been criticized over the past year with low ratings and comparisons to Samsung’s viral advertising, but this win shows that Apple’s approach to focusing on a product’s capabilities, along with touching background music, can still make a positive impact on critics. Apple has been expanding its advertising efforts in recent months by seeking new viral and social media marketing experts and hiring former Nike and Burberry social media chief Musa Tariq. 

Here are the ads the were nominated (but did not win) the Outstanding Commercial award:

Childlike Imagination from General Electric:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co0qkWRqTdM

A Hero’s Welcome from Budweiser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7L5QByvXOQ

Possibilities from Nike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RboTJOfRCwI

Puppy Love from Budweiser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4

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Comments

  1. Joey (@joeywallach) - 10 years ago

    The Nike one was pretty dumb IMO. It’s all like, “do this, do that, beat this famous athlete, this tennis legend, but oh Lebron? Nope stop there.” Was it created for the sole purpose of feeding his ego? lol

  2. Taste_of_Apple - 10 years ago

    I enjoyed this commercial. It had its critics (as with all things), but I thought it was great.

  3. luckydcxx - 10 years ago

    and well deserved, this is probably the best commercial i have ever seen.

  4. Well deserved! Awesome ad.

  5. Bud’s puppy love is pretty cool too – though not as “sophisticated” as Apple’s I’ll admit.

  6. Steve Lawrence - 10 years ago

    Great ad, and shamelessly ripped off by this Universal Studios ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ei6N2k9QaI

  7. Lee (@leemahi) - 10 years ago

    Amazing commercial. I’m on the verge of crying. Apple reminds us how they changed the world.

  8. akuyangdijaatin - 10 years ago

    Budweiser’s commercials may be great and all, but like every other cigarette ad, I don’t see the correlation between animal love and beer.

  9. Yup, good ads are the difference between a product you remember and something that nobody cares about. The stupid “family singing at the dinner table” stuff needs to go. Better stuff from TBWA is exactly what we need to get behind, not lowest-common-denominator ads where advertisers for some reason, think that we’re all stupid people who can’t get humor or appreciate great stuff when we see it.

  10. Eli Matar - 10 years ago

    This shit is so fucking moving. I cant believe I still get fucking tears watching it. Damn you Phill.

  11. Jim Sellers - 10 years ago

    All of us folks up here in the great white north (Edmonton, Canada) are smiling because, even though it wasn’t mentioned anywhere, this commercial was shot here in our quaint older neighborhoods with real snow.