“Don’t hide.” Apple’s “Share Your Gifts” holiday ad speaks to talents and creatives who make amazing pieces, but keep them secret. This 3-minute video is a detailed masterpiece with animation of great caliber, you will initially think it is a full-length film.
The ad has a fairytale vibe, but it is profoundly rooted in the life of every creative. The young girl, “Sofia” works on her Mac day and night crafting pieces, only to stuff them into her box. The ad then shows how creativity dwells in her, as she plays with a dough at the bakeshop, draws on a bus window, and works on her project even while waiting for her friends at a restaurant. But as how many creatives experience, her passion tests her, with scenes showing how frustrated she is over her progress (or the lack of it).
Apple’s agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab collaborated with animation studio Buck Production to produce this video which as of this writing, has reached 1.3million views on Youtube.
If Sofia was reluctant to share her wonderful works, the team behind the production was all out, expressing their talents in making every detail of the 3D environment and also the CG characters. Apple also released a behind-the-scene video of “Share Your Gifts”, where the creative directors, animators, fabricator get to detail the process from building the set by hand to animating Sofia’s weird, natural facial expressions.
Aside from the stunning visuals, the ad also treats the ears. 16-year-old American singer, Billie Eilish, known for her hit songs “Ocean Eyes” and “when the party’s over”, recorded the song “Come Out in Play” for the spot.
With this ad, Apple maintains its spot as one of the top Christmas-season advertisers, along with British brands like John Lewis and Sainsbury’s. Its holiday ads started making noise in 2013, with Misunderstood, starring a boy who seemed to be isolated in their Christmas gathering but turned out to be making a video compilation for his family.
“Share Your Gifts” ends with Sofia’s dog making a way for her creations to be revealed to the world. The mystery of what her work is still remains. But at the end, Apple’s question still rings familiar to many creatives, “Have you ever made something wonderful but were too afraid to share it?”
