for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, May 6-8 in Palm Springs.
Microsoft delivers a ‘special message’ to Apple in its corny holiday ad
All Microsoft wants for Christmas is Apple’s approval.
In a new ad from Microsoft, the company reignited the lame “Mac vs. PC” war and dispatched an army of children from a New York City youth choir to “deliver a special message to some old friends.” Those friends are its arch rivals at the 5th Avenue Apple Store, a short walk from Microsoft’s shiny new flagship store five blocks south.
Dressed in their most festive Microsoft-branded snow caps and shirts, the kids sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” on their chilly pilgrimage north that November night. Their dulcet tones were enough to lure some Apple employees outside, who refrained from acting like jerks about the whole publicity ploy (there were cameras on-hand after all).
The one-minute spot, created by McCann, is both cheery and corny with the set-up resembling the Christmas truce in World War I where German and British troops participated in unofficial ceasefires, but this time with somewhat lower stakes.
While Microsoft often find its selves as the target of Internet jeers, comments on the YouTube page are positive, even from Apple fans. “Microsoft: you nailed it. And coming from an Apple Fanboy, that says something,” wrote one.
Finally, peace at last.
More in Marketing
Possible Day 2: Breaking down agentic’s impact on marketing, including multicultural
Day 2’s interviews featured Molly Battin of The Home Depot, Kirk McDonald of Sundial Media Group, and Omnicom Media’s Joanna O’Connell.
Meta opens its ad ecosystem to third-party AI tools
The platform is introducing Meta ads AI connectors, as part of its broader AI push to make campaign management easier.
The promise and threat of AI, as understood through the eyes of Possible
Nielsen’s Peter Naylor, Multilocal’s Fern Potter and Crossmedia’s Kamran Asghar shared their learnings and teachings coming out of the Possible conference in Miami.