APPLE | THE GREATEST | 2023
This isn't a tech ad / Apple "THE GREATEST"
Seven people with disabilities drive a car, check the color of their clothes, and just go about their day, all using iPhone. That's it, that's the whole film. And it swept the Emmys, the Cannes Grand Prix, D&AD, and One Club Best in Show. The amazing part isn't the advertising. It's the people in it.
The problem
In the US, 26% of the population has a disability, but only 1% of people shown in TV ads do. In the UK, it's 22% versus 4%. Apple has been building accessibility features for years, but had never actually shown the people who use them.
The insight
Films about disability are usually made to feel sad or inspiring. This one was just shot as "normal." The script was even rewritten based on the cast members' own experiences. Apple didn't make something "for" them. They made it with them.
The idea
A wheelchair athlete, a visually impaired artist, deaf parents, musicians with different bodies. Using Door Detection, Sound Recognition, and Voice Control, they all simply go through their day. The cast remixed Muhammad Ali's "I am the greatest" themselves for the soundtrack. The crew behind the camera included staff with disabilities too.
What happened
In 2023, it won the Grand Prix in the Entertainment Lion for Music category at Cannes Lions, the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial, Best of Show at The One Club, and more than 50 awards in total.
Afterthought
I cried watching this. Not because it was moving, but because I finally felt like I was actually seeing something. People who've always been here, but who advertising never showed, appeared on screen looking ordinary and cool, not as charity cases, not as feel-good gestures. It's a statement that these people exist, wrapped in the disguise of a tech demo.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2023
