Appleโs โFuzzy Feelingsโ won the primetime commercial Emmy this evening (9/7) during the first of two Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies being held this weekend in the Peacock Theater at LA Live. The yuletide film out of TBWAMedia Arts Lab was directed by Lucia Aniello via Hungry Man in tandem with stop-motion animator Anna Mantzaris of Passion Pictures.
โFuzzy Feelingsโ introduces us to an office worker by day and stop-motion artist by night. As an employee, she works for a boss whom sheโs grown to hate. So at night, her stop-motion creations put him in dire straits. The young woman makes her stop-motion fare by deploying the iPhone 15 Pro camera and a MacBook Air with M2 to edit it. However, when the woman’s day job takes a turn and she starts to see her boss in another light, so too do her stop-motion endeavors as we see the value of working towards a kinder world, and what better time to start than during the holiday season?
Director Aniello is no stranger to the Emmy proceedings. As creator of the HBO Max series Hacks, she has won two Emmys (writing and directing) as well as a DGA Award. This year she is nominated for three more Emmys on the strength of Hacks–Outstanding Comedy Series as well as writing and directing for a comedy series.
This marks the second straight year that an Apple film has won the coveted primetime commercial Emmy. Back in January 2024, Appleโs โThe Greatest,โ directed by Kim Gehrig of Somesuch, came away with the Emmy.
This time around, โFuzzy Feelingsโ topped a field of nominated commercials consisting of: Appleโs โAlbum Coverโ from Appleโs in-house creatives and directed by David Shane of O Positive; Uber One | Uber Eatsโ โBest Friends,โ also directed by Shane via O Positive from ad agency Mother; State Farmโs โLike A Good Neighbaaaโ helmed by O Positiveโs Jim Jenkins for ad agency Highdive; โMichael CeraVeโ for CeraVe Moisturizing Cream directed by Tim & Eric (Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim) of PRETTYBIRD for Ogilvy; and Sandy Hook Promiseโs โJust Jokingโ directed by Henry-Alex Rubin of SMUGGLER for BBDO New York.
Apple has had at least one primetime commercial Emmy nomination for seven straight years. For five of those years, Apple has scored at least two nods.
โFuzzy Feelingsโ is the fourth Emmy-winning Apple spot. Besides โThe Greatest,โ the brand won for โThink Differentโ in 1998, and โMisunderstoodโ in 2014.