Apple’s moving Christmas advert follows the journey of a father with hearing loss

Apple’s emotional Christmas ad follows the journey of a father living with hearing loss as the brand continues to highlight its accessible technology for people with disabilities.

“Heartstrings,” created by Apple’s longtime agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab, is released Thursday (Nov. 28), ahead of International Day of People with Disabilities on Dec. 3. It’s Apple’s latest attempt to push disability representation in advertising.

The film is a story told in two parts. The first half shows the perspective of a father with moderate hearing loss. Through muffled sounds that reflect his condition, he watches his daughter open a new guitar on Christmas morning and remembers childhood milestones, from her first guitar to birthdays to the first day of school.

The perspective changes after he activates the hearing aid function on his AirPods Pro 2. Now he can hear clearly and is fully engaged in his daughter’s rendition of “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

The ad was directed by Henry-Alex Rubin. Sound design was by Academy Award winner Paul NJ Ottosson, who focused on sound frequencies and volume to authentically capture the experience of moderate hearing loss.

In September, Apple received FDA clearance to sell its AirPods Pro 2 as over-the-counter hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

The holiday campaign will run globally across broadcast, digital platforms and social media.

A legacy of representation

Apple has previously promoted representation of people with disabilities by using emotional storytelling to showcase its accessible technology.

Earlier this year, ahead of the 2024 Paris Paralympics, the brand called for equality and accessibility in sport with a film that featured Paralympics competitors competing in a relay race.

The Taika Waititi-directed 2023 ad was a magical fable about the accessibility of language.