Microsoft Spreads Peace On Earth By Burying The Hatchet With Apple

Microsoft spreads the message of ‘Love, Peace, Harmony and Coexistence,” as they rolled out one of the most touching ads of the season. In a commercial set on one of Apple’s most prominent stores, the 5th Avenue branch in New York, Microsoft bared its mushy underbelly in a moving, hug-filled mini-movie.

It was the symbolic, PR reconciliation Tech Agnostics the world over had always wanted: A hug between Microsoft and Apple. And Apple was happy to oblige.

According to a report by AppleInsider via AdAge, Apple Inc. had to grant permission to Microsoft to film the ad shoot in their area. In an interview with Microsoft’s Corporate VP for Global Advertising Kathleen Hall, she noted that while Apple granted the permission to shoot the ad, the rival company didn’t know the ad's content. Apparently, it all played out well, as employees for both companies seemed to have enjoyed playing their roles.

The ad’s 60-second version rolled out for TV, while the 2-minute version is for social media. The ad also featured Microsoft’s Fifth Avenue branch, located between 53rd and 54th streets. Apple’s iconic cube store is at the corner of 57th street.

Harlem children's choir sang the poignant, soulful but somehow tinged with joy mood music, “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” a very fitting song to lace the ad with the message it wants to convey. Surely, Tech Agnostics who are fans of both Microsoft and Apple products shed tears and spread peace across the globe.

Microsoft's ad agency, McCann M:United, conceptualized and executed the brilliant ad. The tech blogs are saying that the ad is THE Christmas ad of 2015. In terms of symbolically burying the hatchet, it may well be THE Christmas ad of the decade, at least, for Tech.

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Watch the moving Microsoft hugs Apple ad on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMATD2qk564

Read additional reports on the ad:

https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/microsoft-calls-truce-apple/301534/

https://appleinsider.com/articles/15/12/01/apple-approved-microsoft-filming-new-holiday-themed-ad-outside-iconic-nyc-fifth-ave-cube

Spreading the message of Tech Agnosticism and Peace on Earth, at least in the Tech Niche: https://www.droidreport.com/why-it-okay-be-tech-agnostic-common-roots-apple-googleandroid-11346