We’ve already seen Apple’s screen commercial for the holidays – and, today, Microsoft has unveiled its own festive-themed advert, in which company employees spread seasonal cheer just up the street.
It opens in unsurprising fashion, with shots of crowds checking out the various tablets and other devices at the Redmond corporation’s store on New York City’s 5th Avenue. Things begin to take a rather more quirky turn, however, as an on-screen message cites the date as November 16, 2015 and tells how “Microsoft employees deliver a special message to some old friends.”
We then see these workers, accompanied by a local children’s youth choir, singing “Let There be Peace on Earth” as they head up 5th Avenue towards… hang on a minute, is that the Apple Store?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMATD2qk564
Indeed it is. The warm and friendly commercial ends with Microsoft and Apple employees hugging each other just outside the Apple Store while onlookers cheer.
It seems that corporate rivalry hasn’t got in the way of Microsoft wishing a happy season for its historical rival, though The Verge amusingly suggests that “perhaps Microsoft is just trying to keep its friends close, and its enemies even closer for the holidays.” It’s a memorable commercial in any case.
