After two years slogging it out in the home office, the world has finally reopened – and so have the minds of a few employees looking for a new lease on life.
The so-called “Great Resignation” has been a subject of much debate and discussion in the past year, and now it seems even the employers and large businesses are jumping on this trend.
Yesterday, Apple released its latest short-film-turned-ad, “Escape From The Office” featuring the ‘Underdogs’, a ragtag group of workaholics who we’ve already seen pitching an idea, navigating the awkwardness of working from home, and avoiding the wrath of their overbearing boss, Vivianne, in two previous Apple ads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC5Gmkn92Bg&t=496s
This time, the sort-of awesome foursome are shown bemoaning their 9-to-5, before making the impetuous decision to simply quit and start their own business.
Their business idea is to patten and manufacture cheap and sustainable grocery bags. After some awkward fuddling, a series of no’s, and a recruitment process – in which they hire a tech-obsessed 14 year-old as their intern – the Underdogs finally get their business off the ground and get profits moving, with the help of Apple products and programs such as MacBooks, iPads, FaceTime, and even augmented reality. All this is to the chagrin of Vivianne, mind you.
Given as B&T has adopted a strict “no spoilers” policy, we won’t give away the ending. But this long-form spot is charming, funny, and kind of motivational, particularly for anyone stuck in a professional rut.
It’s also a clever way for Apple to incorporate its products in an entertaining and inoffensive way, without shoving it in the viewers’ face – think a Super Bowl commercial, but where products are actually used and promoted as opposed to random visuals showing celebrities having pies thrown on their faces or slipping on a banana peel.
“This wasn’t originally designed to be a series of films,” Apple Vice President of marketing, Tor Myhren told Ad Week.
“We did the first one before Covid, but when the pandemic hit and working from home became the norm, these turned out to be the perfect characters to show how our products were transforming the home office experience.
“Now with the rise of the hybrid workplace and the Great Resignation, Apple products are once again there to help people work however and wherever they want.”
