Apple debuts four new TV commercials for Apple Watch

Apple has debuted four new television commercials for Apple Watch on network and cable broadcasts in multiple countries.

New Apple Watch television ads:
• Closer: For all the ups and downs of parenthood, the Watch is here.
• Beijing: For the trip of a lifetime, the Watch is here.
• Berlin: For exploring new places like never before, the Watch is here.
• Goals: For setting goals and sticking with them, the Watch is here.




MacDailyNews Take: We’re not sure the average Joe or Jane will really grasp exactly what the Watches are doing in these ads, but we think they’ll certainly get the idea that they’re doing useful things. It’s tough to view these spots objectively having Apple Watches on our wrists for nearly three months now. We know exactly what these Watches are doing in these ads, but do people who’ve never used one understand what the heck is going on?

Non-Apple Watch users, how do you perceive these ads?

29 Comments

    1. these are the worst ads apple has ever produced.

      nothing about the product is clear, and nothing about the scene is aspirational.

      you sure these aren’t SNL parodies?

      1. plus… the emotional pandering is becoming a cliche.

        baby being born…. oh look someone’s wearing a watch….

        you start to feel manipulated, and the ad starts to feel cheesy.

        this in comparison to so many apple ads where the emotions seem genuine.

        I can’t imagine anyone watching these and thinking “I’d like to buy an Apple Watch”

      2. Completely agree. The epitome of schmaltzy. Apple is really doing itself a disservice by focusing on people lounging around who could easily pull out their Phone and interact more comfortably. They really should just focus on people on the go. Athletic activity, or a guy on a ladder hammering a nail. Situations where pulling out an iPhone is not the easiest thing to do. Blue collar workers, people with their hands full or on the go.

        And besides the youth look of the sport, they really do need another casual look, one for the real people on the go, the blue collar people who could really benefit from one and not look like dork. Something really casual and durable that doesn’t say they listen to Taylor Swift.

  1. At first viewing, if I didn’t know it was an Apple Watch commercial it would totally be confusing, people doing stuff and going to nice places (what the heck is the product?!). The next viewing now that you know it is a Apple Watch ad you try to see where the Apple Watch is being used. At this point some viewers may wonder why is THAT function (if they even realize it is a specific function) useful. None of the ads make any indication of needing a paired iPhone for certain functions (Map?).

  2. The first three are all about relationships in the context of being both together and apart, never out of touch.
    Very subtle, and if you are the target of each ad, you will get it.

  3. They overly minimized what watch was doing to try and show the surroundings of the places they were filming, so the Watch got lost in translation. You can get brief ideas, but its to much of a glimpse.

  4. New Apple iPhone ad says:

    “If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone.”

    Future Apple Watch ad (as “luxury” brands try to compete) says:

    “If it’s just a watch, it’s just a watch.”

  5. Apple is Lifestyle. These ads, and the last dozen or so, drive that point home. They are not selling mere convenience. They are selling indispensibility—they fit into, and help regulate, your life. Yes, other firms may promise the same but they are like butlers or housekeepers who rifle your drawers while you are away..

  6. Apple knows who the real target for these ads is, so they’re probably exactly what they need to show: good-looking young people doing interesting things because they wear the Apple Watch.

    In previous decades, you could have seen them having great times while smoking Winston cigarettes or Virginia Slims. Same idea.

    But the ads don’t work for me. Everything they’re doing is something which I’m happy using the iPhone for.

    The ads were contrived, also. The young mother using the microwave AND holding the baby AND phoning her mother? Too much.

    I was at an Apple Store a few days ago to buy the in-ear headphones, the $79 model. They’re quite good. But nobody was looking at the display watches. The display cases were mostly something you had to walk around.

    1. I was at an Apple Store yesterday (Mall of America, Minneapolis), and the Apple Watch case and display table were both well-attended around 11am. About as crowded as the rest of the store, which was pretty busy.

      The Microsoft store across the hall, on the other hand…

  7. The ads don’t sell a bullet list of features, that’s something Samsung would do. They don’t need to do that.
    Their message, and target, is for active people who want to stay connected and in touch without having their heads buried in a cell phone or computer screen.

    The ads do that very well.

    1. The best bit of all for me was the last seconds of “Closer”, specifically the crayon. Took me right back to our kids when they were that age, the youngest of them being 32 now.

  8. I loves me some Apple, but if he Steve were alive, he’d probably scream at the ad agency that “These are SHIT” and berate the ad exec to no end, uttering to his assistant that “These guys are bozos that don’t get it. They just don’t get it.”. I do love my Watch, however.

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