I’m not going to lie, I love puppets, so maybe I’m a little biased when it comes to Apple’s latest “Shot on iPhone 17 Pro” commercial which features puppets of forest animals and, more notably, not a hint of AI.
Sure, Apple may be avoiding AI because of the “where’s the AI version of Siri” elephant in the room, but I think this approach is perfect for triggering warm and fuzzy holiday feelings. And while you might imagine it’s a retort to Coca-Cola’s poorly received 100% AI holiday ad, Apple has surely been working on this three-minute spot, launching today, for months.
Look on it
In the ad, a couple hiking through the forest loses their Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro. Soon a group of scruffy-looking forest creatures find it, and then, as animals so often do, they start using the phone to shoot themselves while singing a song (which they then left for the couple after using Apple’s Find My to locate the lost phone).
It’s a lot smarter than it seems. The animal puppets are adorably rendered, looking like they have lived in the forest their entire lives. Additionally, not all animals get along well. At one point, a wolf eats the rat, but is soon tricked into spitting it out. There’s even a bit of dark humor about what they would do if one of them was run over.
The point of the film is how, perhaps, we can all get along despite our differences and how good the iPhone 17 Pro is at video. For what it’s worth, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are two of my favorite smartphones of the year and among the best phones of 2025. They are fantastic everyday devices and powerful photography and video shooting phones.
I enjoyed the commercial, but the behind-the-scenes video is much more interesting. It reveals the full extent of the artisanal character of the entire company. Each puppet was hand-made and operated by a team of puppeteers, most of whom were dressed in blue jumpsuits so they could be cleaned later.
Even the set is real – not a real forest, mind you, but a real stage platform to support the puppets and puppeteers.
Again, this is a smart and clever way for Apple to showcase features like shot quality and 8x zoom (one crop per sensor).
Ultimately, I think this very real ad will be remembered long after people have forgotten Coca-Cola’s latest AI advertising misstep.
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