Screenshot: Apple
Apple successfully created an extended video advertisement that people want to watch. Escape From the Office made it on YouTube’s own most most popular global ads of the past year.
It’s about a group who sets out to create a small business after ditching corporate life. They use Apple products, of course, but that’s not truly the focus.
Apple Escape from the Office ad offers drama and passion
Back in the day, Apple advertisements had shining products floating in front of white backdrops. Or maybe colorful outlines of people dancing. More recently however, the iPhone-maker stated using humor to tell stories about people using its devices.
Escape From the Office is a prime example. It focuses on four people who leave their miserable corporate jobs to form a small business. Their story has up and downs as they struggle to make a living doing what they truly love to do.
Their tale doesn’t wrap up quickly – the video is almost nine minutes long. But it’s still popular enough to appear on the YouTube Ads Leaderboard: Cannes 2022. The streaming service said, “With the spotlight on Cannes Lions 2022, we take a moment with our special edition of the Ads Leaderboard to celebrate the most popular global video ads since last year’s festival.”
Perhaps the popularity stems from the video being somewhat subtle about advertising Apple products. The stars certainly use them, but Escape From the Office focuses on people starting a small business, not on the MacBook Pro or iPhone 14.
And it’s funny. Genuinely funny.
The video is part of a long-running Apple at Work series. It stars the Underdogs, last seen in the equally funny The whole working-from-home thing video in 2021.
