Apple scored four of the seven primetime Emmy nominations announced today (7/12) for Outstanding Commercial. This represents a high water mark for the brand, which has found a place in the spot Emmy nominees’ circle for five consecutive years. Actually Apple has scored at least two nods annually for four of those years.
This time around, Apple received nominations for “The Greatest” directed by Kim Gehrig of production house Somesuch; “Call Me” with Timothee Chalamet for Apple TV+, directed by Tom Kuntz of MJZ for TBWAMedia Arts Lab; Airpods’ “quiet the Noise” helmed by the directing collective Megaforce via production company Iconoclast for TBWA/Media Arts Lab; and “R.I.P. Leon” directed by Andreas Nilsson of Biscuit Filmworks.
These spots are no stranger to major accolades. For instance “The Greatest” was one of the spots which helped Gehrig this year win the DGA Award for commercial director of the year. And “R.I.P. Leon” recently earned a Film Grand Prix honor at the Cannes Lions ad fest.
Rounding out this year’s crop of Emmy-nominated commercials are Dove’s “Cost of Beauty” directed by Henry-Alex Rubin of SMUGGLER for Ogilvy, London and Toronto; The Farmer’s Dog Super Bowl commercial, “Forever,” directed by Goh Iromoto of Sanctuary; and another Super Bowl ad, Squarespace’s “The Singularity” directed by Aoife McArdle of SMUGGLER.
“Cost of Beauty” introduces us to Mary who we see as a sweet happy girl in archival footage but grows up to be negatively impacted by social media’s unrealistic image of perceived beauty.
“Forever” shows the bond over the years between a girl and her dog.
“The Singularity” stars actor Adam Driver trying to wrap his head around the concept of a website for creating websites. Actually Driver isn’t quite alone in his mulling over. He’s joined by multiple clones of himself as he processes exactly what Squarespace does.
As for the Apple fare, “The Greatest” features a cast of real people who are quite able even though they each have varied so-called “disabilities” impacting mobility, vision, hearing, cognition and so on. Thanks to different innovations from Apple, these people are able to deftly navigate everyday life. The film represents and depicts the physically/cognitively challenged community in a new positive light, showing how technology can help, providing different forms of accessibility and capabilities. The commercial’s track, “I am the Greatest,” used lyrics from the speeches of the legendary Muhammad Ali, who himself became an advocate for disability after developing Parkinson’s late in life. Australian choral group Spinifex sang the song which was remixed by one of the cast, Cola Boyy, a music artist and producer who opened Coachella in 2022. Jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker then improvised on top of this track, and the resulting collaboration was woven throughout the fabric of the film.
“Quiet the Noise” shows noise-making activities suspended in mid-air. A lone character at ground level then turns off her pair of AirPods, sparking a return to terra firma for the floating scenes, illustrating the noise-canceling capabilities of the Apple technology.
“Call Me” brings us Chalamet who wonders why he doesn’t have a role on an Apple TV+ project. In this tongue-in-cheek piece, Chalamet is left to lament the lack of an Apple TV+ gig while surrounded by the successes of others on the platform spanning such fare as Best Picture Oscar winner CODA, the Emmy-celebrated Ted Lasso, as well as Causeway, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, Severance, Black Bird, Chief of War, and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon. Finally Chalamet is left to utter an old-fashioned Hollywood plea as a query to Apple: “Call me?”
And “R.I.P. Leon” opens on a seemingly dead lizard as a heartbroken man sends a text message about the reptile’s passing. Miraculously, the lizard reawakens and breaks into a high energy dance; luckily our gent via iPhone can undeliver the text message with a quick command.
Here's the list of nominees in the Outstanding Commercial category:
Outstanding Commercial
Apple – "The Greatest" – Accessibility
Somesuch, Production Company
Apple Inc., Ad Agency
"Call Me With Timothée Chalamet" – Apple TV+
MJZ, Production Company
TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Ad Agency
"Cost Of Beauty" – Dove
SMUGGLER, Production Company
Ogilvy, Ad Agency
"Forever" – The Farmer’s Dog
Sanctuary, Production Company
"Quiet The Noise" – AirPods
Iconoclast TV, Production Company
TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Ad Agency
"R.I.P. Leon" – Apple
Biscuit Filmworks, Production Company
Apple Inc., Ad Agency
"The Singularity: – Squarespace
SMUGGLER, Production Company
Squarespace, Ad Agency
The winner of the primetime commercial Emmy will be revealed and honored during the Creative Arts Emmy proceedings which are currently slated for the weekend of Sept 9 and 10.
