Apple, Nike earn multiple 2021 Outstanding Commercial Emmy nominations

Apple showed up in full force among the nominees for Outstanding Commercial in the 73rd annual Emmy Awards. Spots highlighting Apple’s Airpods Pro, the Apple Watch and Apple’s Beats by Dre earned three of the six nominations announced by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences today. The “Jump” spot, created out of TBWA/Media Arts Lab and directed by Sam Brown of Imperial Woodpecker, debuted during the Grammys and starred Japanese Double Dutch pro Kengo Sugino joyfully skipping his way through the city in a mixed-media fantasy scenario. “It Already Does That,” created in-house at Apple and directed by Craig Gillespie of MJZ, features the voiceover of Helena Bonham-Carter, who muses about the wonders that technology will make possible in the future. To her frustration, however, Apple Watch owners inform her that those wonders are a reality right now, thanks to the devices on their wrists. The acclaimed “You Love Me” spot for Beats by Dre has already earned wide praise for its bold message that questions love for Black culture. Earlier this year it nabbed top industry awards, including a Titanium Lion, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and Idea of the Year and Craft of the Year honors in Ad Age’s Creativity Awards. It was created out of Translation and directed by Prettybird’s Melina Matsoukas. Matsoukas is the most celebrated director of this year’s lineup and also earned a nomination for her work on Nike’s “Better—Mamba Forever” spot. Created out of Wieden+Kennedy and narrated by Kendrick Lamar, the ad paid tribute to the late Kobe Bryant and his endless pursuit to be better. It debuted last August as part of “Mamba Week.” Nike and Wieden+Kennedy earned multiple nominations, the second for the “You Can’t Stop Us” ad. The spot, one of the two Film Grand Prix winners at the Cannes Lions this year, was a tour de force of craft that masterfully spliced together scenes of different athletes to make them appear as if they were moving in unison. It was directed by Pulse Films’ Oscar Hudson and edited out of Joint. Amazon earned the final nomination, for “Alexa’s Body,” the sultry Super Bowl ad from Lucky Generals that imagined if the brand’s digital assistant were in the body of Michael B. Jordan. Wayne McClammy of Hungry Man directed. The winners of the 73rd Annual Primetime and Creative Arts Emmys will be announced in September.

Apple, Nike earn multiple 2021 Outstanding Commercial Emmy nominations

Featured Stories