I’m not going to lie, I love dolls, so maybe I’m a little biased when it comes to Apple’s latest “Shot on iPhone 17 Pro” commercial, which features woodland animal dolls and, more notably, not a candy AI.
Sure, Apple might avoid AI because of the “where’s the AI version of Siri” elephant in the room, but I think this approach is just perfect for triggering warm, fuzzy holiday feelings. And while you might imagine it’s a response to the ill-received Coca-Cola all-AI holiday ad, Apple has probably been working on this three-minute spot, which launched today, for months.
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In the ad, a couple hiking through the woods loses their Deep Blue iPhone 17 Pro. Soon a bunch of dodgy-looking woodland creatures find it, and then, as animals so often do, they start using the phone to shoot themselves and sing a song (which they then leave for the couple once they’ve used Apple’s Find My to find the lost phone).
It’s a lot smarter than it sounds. The animal puppets are adorably rendered and look very much like they have lived in the forest all their lives. In addition, the animals do not all come together. At one point a wolf eats the rat, but is quickly encouraged to spit him out. There’s even a bit of dark humor involving what they would do if one was run over.
The point of the film is how maybe we can all come together despite our differences and how good the iPhone 17 Pro is for 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’re great everyday devices and powerful photography and video recording phones.
I enjoyed the commercial, but the behind the scenes video is far more interesting. It reveals the full extent of the entire company’s artisan character. Each puppet was handmade and operated by a team of puppeteers, most of whom were dressed in blue bodysuits so they could be scrubbed out in post-processing.
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 show off features like the recording quality and 8x zoom (a sensor crop).
In the end, I think this very real ad will be remembered long after people have forgotten about Coca-Cola’s recent AI ad failure.
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