I grew up knowing exactly what it feels like to be excluded and ostracised.
Teased and bullied from the start of school to the end on a daily basis, for reasons known only to my tormentors, I longed to be loved and accepted for who I am, no strings attached or questions asked.
So while I don’t have red and green glowing bolts sticking out of my neck, I understand exactly how Frankenstein’s Monster feels in this adorable Christmas ad from Apple (rather ironically while I have an iMac at home, I’m writing this on the PC at work) which encourages viewers to “open your heart to everyone.”
It’s a timely message, especially with the hatefully exclusionary Mr Trump due to assume the presidency in just over 6 weeks, that we should be heeding all throughout the year.
In the ad, “Frankie’s Holiday”, in which Brad Garrett plays the titular figure of ridicule and scorn – Laughing Squid points out that he evokes, unintentionally most likely, “the late Peter Boyle and Gene Wilder” – whose musical attempt to win over the fearful townspeople almost goes awry until a brave little girl helps him finish his song.
It’s this connection, this need to belong and be loved for who you are, that lies at the heart of this heartwarming ad, says Apple’s Vice President of Marketing Tor Myhren in an interview with Fast Company.
“Inclusion is and has for a long time been one of Apple’s core values, and I think we’ve looked for a couple times throughout this year to communicate that to the world. …What a great time to talk about inclusion, and in some ways, the holidays are similar. We wanted to put out a message from Apple around this time of year that reminds everyone that what drives us as human beings is the desire for human connection.”
Mission accomplished and let’s hope that we all heed this message regardless of who we are (or how many Apple products we might buy) especially in a world that seems to be forgetting en masse what it means to truly love our fellow man, at Christmas time or otherwise.