The spot opens on a family sitting for a photo with a traditional camera. But when the tripod accidentally tips over, a girl uses her phone to play with virtual face masks with her family.

From there, people of all ages and backgrounds use the app to laugh and let loose — together or apart. They make stickers of their pets, send pictures instead of texts, and use the map to find the fun on a night out.

The closing line underscores how the app is a new kind of camera — one where how you feel matters more than how you look. It’s for more than just capturing and posting special moments. It’s for creating them with friends and family.

Despite a dedicated user base and tremendous global awareness, there are a lot of misconceptions about Snapchat, and many people don’t quite understand what the app is.

To write Snapchat off as just another social platform for young people (or for sexting, if you’re a true cynic) is to miss out on all the experiences it can unlock.

Snapchat is a new kind of camera — one where how you feel matters more than how you look. This spot tells the story of how its many features help bring friends and family closer during a time when there is a lot of cultural noise around divisiveness and tremendous pressure to portray your perfect self.

Snapchat is a camera that creates deeper connections between people and the world around them, and the directors crafted every scene to reflect that.

The set locations they chose aren’t specific to any city, and the actors are diverse in age, gender, and ethnicity. While past Snapchat creative had an irreverent and youthful energy, in this spot, anyone, from anywhere, could write themselves into this story — its soft tone creating even broader accessibility.

Many of the shots are taken at arm’s length to show that Snapchat is not just a camera for one — it brings family and friends together. Behind the scenes, the crew encouraged the actors to play with Snapchat, and together they used Snap Map to find a venue for the concert scene, perfected their Bitmoji, and connected with the spot's message even more authentically.