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 that features woodland animal puppets and, most notably, not a hint of AI.
Sure, Apple might be avoiding AI because of the elephant in the room “where’s the AI version of Siri?”, but I think this approach is perfect for triggering warm and fuzzy vacation feelings. And while you can imagine it’s a riposte to Coca-Cola’s poorly received AI-only Christmas ad, Apple has surely been working on this three-minute ad, which launched today, for months.
Look
In the ad, a couple walking through the woods lose their Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro. Soon, a group of scruffy-looking woodland creatures find it and then, as animals often do, begin using the phone to trigger themselves by singing a song (which they then left to the couple once they used Apple’s Find My to locate the missing phone).
He is much smarter than he seems. The animal puppets are adorably depicted and look like they have been living in the forest all their lives. Also, not all animals get along. At one point, a wolf eats the rat, but soon finds the courage to spit it out. There’s even a bit of dark humor about what they would do if one were 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 on 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 are among the best phones of 2025. They are fantastic everyday devices and powerful phones for photography and video recording.
I enjoyed the commercial, but the behind the scenes video is much more interesting. It reveals the full extent of the artisanal nature of the entire company. Each puppet was hand-made and operated by a team of puppeteers, most of whom wore blue suits so they could be removed in the later process.
Even the set is real: not a real forest, of course, but a real stage platform to support the puppets and puppeteers.
Again, this is a clever and clever way for Apple to show off features like shooting quality and 8x zoom (a sensor crop).
Ultimately, I think this very real commercial will be remembered long after people forget Coca-Cola’s latest AI advertising mistake.
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