Apple has premiered its Christmas ad for 2025 with a piece that advocates manual creativity at a time when content generated by artificial intelligence is multiplying on all platforms. Titled “A Critter Carol,” the brand features a choir of woodland creatures performing a cover of Flight of the Conchords’ “Friends” on a physically constructed stage filmed entirely on an iPhone 17 Pro. The campaign was developed by TBWAMedia Arts Lab, a long-standing collaborator of the brand, and directed by Mark Molloy for Smuggler, with filming in Prague and production support from Unit+Sofa.

The advertisement is characterized by its artisanal approach: the characters are puppets made by hand and manipulated by teams of puppeteers, a creative resource that reinforces the closeness of the process. Mark Molloy argues that the goal was to return to a visual language based on explicit imperfection: “I wanted to embrace the tactile nature of puppetry. I really wanted to get back to the craft.”

The result is an advertisement that places craftsmanship as a narrative and aesthetic axis, with a montage that combines humor, musicality and a classic winter atmosphere. In line with the “Shot on iPhone” philosophy, the piece recalls the device’s ability to record complex productions, but does so without displacing the prominence of the human factor. Apple thus structures another Christmas campaign around an idea that it repeats consistently: technology is relevant when it amplifies the creativity of those who use it.

The making of, which accompanies the launch and shows the creative and technical team, delves into the process and emphasizes the physical nature of the project, from the construction of the characters to the lighting and staging.

This approach continues the line that Apple has developed in its recent holiday campaigns, such as the award-winning “Fuzzy Feelings”, carried out with stop motionand connects with the visual identity created this year for Apple TV, focused on physical objects and effects in front of the camera.