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Apple looks to gain back ground in China with 7-minute ad for Chinese New Year

Apple has created a seven-minute long film it clams was shot entirely on an iPhone XS, in an attempt to tell the story of the changing face of China in time for next week’s Chinese new Year celebrations.

Titled ‘The Bucket’, the narrative shows a young man heading back to the city after a CNY visit to his mother who lives in rural China.

As is customary with traditional Chinese parents seeking to retain that connection to home among their city-based children, he is given a bucket of goods to take back by his mum – something that is symbolic as well as practical.

Created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab Shanghai and directed by prominent Chinese director Jia Zhahngke the film will run on Weibo, Youku, WeChat, Douyin and Apple’s YouTube channel – backed by an out-of-home campaign across Greater China.

Last year, Apple also produced a seven-minute ad title ‘Three Minutes’ – again claiming it was shot entirely on an iPhone. It was directed by celebrated Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan and also had a homecoming theme. The fact that it was well received at the time may have led Apple to repeat the exercise.

The ad comes at a time when iPhone sales in China have slowed significantly, forcing the firm to write down its financial projections for the first quarter of 2019.

In addition, the company recently slashed pricing for the iPhone XR in the region due to low sales.

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