Apple just released a stop-motion ad to introduce the Mac mini and it has creatives rejoicing about the handcrafted animation and lack of AI. In fact Apple has even published the behind the scenes video showing exactly how the animation was made – with animators painstakingly sculpting and painting clay, just to prove its chops as a human-made piece of work (a relief to those questioning it online).
The ad itself is a departure from Apple's traditional aesthetic in many ways, though it retains the usual minimal style across background and product. But the animated components – beginning with a yellow, Hulk-style strongman busting out of the Mac mini, are more in keeping with Apple's current marketing style – whimsical, less corporate and less polished. In that way, this ad is more similar to the style of its TikTok marketing posts, but with more craft added in.
