The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences this weekend awarded Apple's "Misunderstood" the 2014 Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. The 2013 holiday spot, created out of TBWA/Media Arts Lab and directed by Park Pictures' Lance Acord, told the tale of a standoffish teen who seems to pull away from his family during its Christmas celebration, but it turns out he's been there all along, documenting everyone's merry-making to create a touching gift.
Apple also previously won a Commercial Emmy in 1998, for its now classic "Here's to the Crazy Ones" ad from the "Think Different" campaign.
"Misunderstood" beat out a pair of Super Bowl ads via Anomaly for Anheuser-Busch InBev, "Hero's Welcome" and the popular "Puppy Love"; GE's "Childlike Imagination" from BBDO, New York; and Nike's "Possibilities," created out of Wieden & Kennedy, Portland.
The Commercial Emmy was announced as part of the Academy's Creative Arts Emmy Awards, held during a ceremony on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Last week Mullen, Boston, also earned an Emmy for its "Live From Space" project for National Geographic, in the category of Social TV Experience during the Academy's Interactive Media Awards. The project allowed viewers to see what astronauts could see from the International Space Station and was launched in conjunction with a "Live From Space" program Nat Geo aired in March.