Apple’s lauded accessibility spot “The Greatest” picked up more hardware on Sunday night, winning the 2023 Emmy Award for outstanding commercial at a ceremony that had been delayed four months due to the strikes in Hollywood.
Apple’s ‘The Greatest’ wins 2023 Emmy for outstanding commercial
Created by Apple’s in-house marketing team and directed by Kim Gehrig of Somesuch, “The Greatest,” which first aired in December 2022, starred real people with disabilities using the accessibility features of Apple products. The spot had already picked up a slew of industry awards, including the Entertainment Lions for Music Grand Prix at Cannes Lions last summer.
The Greatest
Client: Apple
Agency: In-house
Director: Kim Gehrig, Somesuch
There were six other Emmy contenders this year—three other Apple spots, along with ads from Dove, The Farmer’s Dog and Squarespace.
This is Apple’s first Emmy win since 2014, when it won for the holiday spot “Misunderstood,” and its third win overall, including “Think Different” in 1998 (the second year of the best-commercial Emmy). The company has been a dominant presence among the nominees lately. It set a record with its four spots nominated this year, and it’s had 12 spots nominated in the past six years.
Before this year, Nike and Sandy Hook Promise had split the previous four Emmy Awards for best spot, with Nike winning in 2019 and 2021 and Sandy Hook taking the prize in 2020 and 2022.
Sunday’s prize was given out as part of the two-night Creative Arts Emmy Awards this weekend. The main Emmy Awards ceremony will take place on Jan. 15. Both ceremonies were delayed from September 2023 due to the now-resolved Hollywood labor disputes.
See the six 2023 Emmy runners-up below.