"Little Garlic" is part of a globally orchestrated Shot on iPhone campaign centered on 3x product demonstration short films for Apple’s 3 key international markets – China, Mexico and Japan. In each of these markets, ‘camera system’ is the main driver for purchase consideration and purchase intent of iPhone. No other brand has undertaken a more organically successful and culturally impactful effort in entertainment.

In China, with a provocative edge and the iPhone's cinematic capabilities, "Little Garlic" sparked a long-overdue conversation about youth insecurity in China. We created cut-through in the world’s most competitive smartphone market, during the noisiest time.

Social media’s negative influence on our insecurities is no secret. When not used responsibly, the social media apps on our iPhones, while designed to connect us, often paradoxically compound insecurities. Apple is not afraid to shine a light on the possible negative impact of technology on humanity, and to invite us all to be mindful of the messages we receive, often on the iPhone itself.

In China, social media has contributed to the rise of its most insecure generation in recent history. With rampant rates of anxiety and youth unemployment, China’s young people are statistically more insecure about themselves and their futures than ever. Amidst this vexing storm, the country’s influencer-heavy digital culture promotes unattainable beauty standards and idealized lifestyles that only add fuel to the fire.

As social media was pushing an insecure generation to the brink, Apple, the world’s biggest technology brand, launched a Chinese New Year film with a simple but provocative message: “you are enough.”

Shot entirely on iPhone, “Little Garlic” was a call for inner confidence to triumph over technology’s potential bad influence.

This was a bold proposition for any tech brand, let alone a foreign tech brand in China, where drawing attention to social issues risks government censorship and consumer sentiment has frequently turned hostile to foreign brands.

At its core, the “Shot on iPhone” campaign is about demonstrating the capabilities of its camera in an unquestionable, pure and evidential way. No advertising artifice. Just a pure showcase of what the device in your pocket is capable of capturing.

Every year, we launch a film during Chinese New Year, establishing a longterm platform that drives relevance for Apple at a moment of high cultural importance.

The campaign drives preference over rivals in China — the world’s largest, most competitive smartphone market — where camera superiority is critical to consideration.

By 2023, Apple faced big challenges. Amid mounting nationalism, local competitors were in resurgence. Meanwhile, economic downturn forced consumers to wait longer before upgrading.

We needed a fresh way to win attention and consideration from Gen-Z, our primary target audience during this key cultural moment.

Our objectives were:

Drive consideration for iPhone

Build Apple brand affinity and cultural resonance

How often do we wake up every morning questioning whether we are good enough?

Insecurity is a widespread issue, with an estimated 85% of people worldwide experiencing low self-esteem and anxiety. But in China, youth insecurity has reached a critical point.

70% of youths feel anxiety from studies, work, or appearance. Nine million students say they have social anxiety. Youth unemployment hits a record 21%, so high that China’s National Bureau stopped publishing updates to abate panic.

Social media only compounds the crisis. We realized young people were using social media to hide their “true-selves” —  camera apps fully-loaded with beauty filters, mass adoption of digital avatars, and use of anonymity-based social platforms surging amongst Gen-Z.

As technology was enabling people to hide who they truly were, we felt that iPhone — through its powerful storytelling capabilities — could make a bold statement: you are enough as you are.

We brought youth social behavior to life through a metaphor of shape-shifting. Similar to how they hide behind online anonymity and personas, our protagonist gains the power to shape-shift into anyone she desires.

Though her powers are magic, we wanted to keep the story rooted to the realities of youth insecurity. Every shape-shifting moment is always trigged by real pain points — bullying, failure, low self-esteem. These true-to-life moments across the film are the emotional hooks to resonate with the youth.

“Shot on iPhone” is a product demonstration campaign, pure and simple, so iPhone was essential to bringing our film to life. All eighteen shape-shifting scenes were shot completely on iPhone with practical effects only — demonstrating iPhone’s camera superiority.

“Little Garlic” is more than an entertaining film. It’s a statement from Apple, and an inspirational story to resonate with a generation locked in a social-media-fueled insecurity and identity crisis.

To ensure the film delivered the full impact of our message, we needed extraordinary craft and execution to fully realize our creative idea. We worked with filmmaking masters like Hollywood director Marc Webb, together with acclaimed Chinese screenwriter Pan Yiran, and star actor Fan Wei. Their expertise in the field guaranteed that we brought out the absolute best of our work.

Not only was craft crucial, but media had to be pitch-perfect. Right before Chinese New Year, our film launched nationwide to more than a billion people in China, and even more across the world.

We maximized our paid media budget by showing up like a blockbuster movie, not just another advertisement, taking over mastheads across prominent movie streaming sites. To drive earned attention, we also invited well-known Chinese tech influencer Tim Pan to our set. His behind-the-scenes exclusive created more buzz and engagement.

PERFORMANCE

498m views

Average watch time of 10m 21s, over 65 million hours watch time across all assets

228m clicks to Apple.com (1.8x previous year)

VS HUAWEI

Opened double digit advantage versus Chinese juggernaut Huawei in Consideration (78% v. 68%) and Affinity (90% v. 75%)

PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES

82% exposed audience agreed “I want an iPhone for its high-quality camera” (+16 lift vs unexposed)

70% of young Chinese agree iPhone camera captures professional-grade film, up 22% YOY

77% of young Chinese agree iPhone has a better camera than others, up 11% YOY

“I want iPhone for its high-quality camera” up 18% YOY to 75% among young Chinese

CULTURAL RESONANCE

79% young Chinese people agree “Apple respects Chinese culture”, up 19% YOY

75% young Chinese people agree “Apple is emotionally relevant to me”, up 11% YOY

67% of young people agree the film motivated them to “stay true to myself”