Tomorrow belongs to those who embrace it today
The best ad of Super Bowl weekend comes from Apple (and it’s not in the Super Bowl)
Technology brings you into another world. It’s time to huddle around our screens. It’s time to celebrate a quintessential pastime that involves men, large and less large, pushing each other to the limits. No, I’m not talking about an overnight Meta hackathon. I’m talking about the Super Bowl, the one time of year when Americans express strong opinions about ads — many for tech companies — and the role of football as a backdrop.
As we approach the big game, a big debate has revolved around Apple’s Vision Pro and how it may affect human life. Will it revolutionize the way we work and play? Will it increase feelings of loneliness? Will Apple have a Vision Pro ad in the Super Bowl? (Well, Apple Music will certainly be there, in an ad starring, goodness, Tim Cook.)
The future is currently a hot topic. Microsoft’s offering for Sunday’s big show is an anthemic vision for professionals. With rousing music and aggressive spirit, Microsoft touts what young people will be able to achieve with Microsoft’s new AI companion, Copilot. It’s all very persuasive and moving. Yet, as you parse the Super Bowl ad merits of Microsoft raising your hopes and Uber Eats fighting DoorDash, please spare a thought for a different ad Apple released specially for this weekend. No, not for the Super Bowl but for Chinese New Year.
It so happens that Chinese New Year falls on February 10, the day before the Chiefs and 49ers enjoy their own little festival of joy. And I fancy Apple’s Chinese New Year ad may have more to say than all the Super Bowl ads put together. This, you see, is a 15-minute-long tale of a little girl called Wei who believes she’s imperfect, but suddenly discovers she has superpowers. She can become something different — more importantly, in
