Apple took the wraps off its much-awaited iPhone 15 series at the ‘Wonderlust’ launch event on Tuesday and, like every year, the event was the buzz on social media. But apart from all the launches, an ad featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook and Hollywood star Octavia Spencer stole the show. Spencer made a special appearance as Mother Nature visiting the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. Cook, on the other hand, showcased his acting skills. In the ad, Mother Nature is taking stock of the progress when it comes to Apple’s 2030 goal to make every product carbon neutral by the end of the decade and Cook explains how they are very much on track.
Replying to Mother Nature’s questions, Apple employees then shared various updates that Apple has made towards achieving carbon neutrality. They noted that the company has been shipping more products by sea instead of air, eliminating all plastic from its packaging, and investing in projects across the world to protect the Earth’s soil, plants and trees. “As you can see, we’ve innovated and retooled almost every part of our process to reduce our impact on the planet,” Cook said in the spot. “By 2030, all Apple devices will have a net-zero climate impact.”
The ad is not only entertaining but also showcases one of the main themes at the launch event this year, which is sustainability. In line with its commitment to providing carbon-neutral products, Apple has announced plans to phase out all plastic packaging by the end of 2024 and achieve a net-zero climate impact from its devices by sourcing critical materials such as aluminium, cobalt and gold from recycled materials by 2030. The company during the event also announced its first ever carbon-neutral products in the all-new Apple Watch line-up.
“At Apple, we believe that climate change is one of the world’s most urgent priorities and we are deeply committed to doing our part. Today we had a special guest—a real force of nature—by to check on our progress,” Cook wrote in the caption of the post.
As part of Apple 2030 and the company’s broader environmental efforts, the company has also ended the use of leather across all of its product lines, announced its first entirely fibre-based packaging for the new Apple Watch line-up and continued to expand the use of recycled materials in iPhones. The company also introduced a new tool in the Home app called Grid Forecast 3 which helps inform users when their power grid has cleaner energy available, so they can decide when to use electricity.
Many on social media lauded the ad saying how it was fun to watch and showcased sustainability efforts by the tech giant in an interesting manner. “Creative and impactful way to convey an organization’s path and goal to every stakeholder on the planet,” wrote a LinkedIn user. “Pushing Boundaries and letting the world know in a way that only Apple knows how. You can love it or hate it, but for sure can’t ignore it,” wrote another user. Users on social networking service X, formerly Twitter, were quick to react to the clip and praised Cook for his “amazing” acting skills as well. “Apple knocked it out of the park with their storytelling,” wrote one user.
At Apple, we believe that climate change is one of the world’s most urgent priorities and we are deeply committed to doing our part. Today we had a special guest—a real force of nature—stop by to check on our progress. pic.twitter.com/neLSEqPmGu
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 12, 2023
Although many liked Apple’s ad showcasing their sustainability efforts, some social media users thought it was cringy. “While I applaud your efforts to produce sustainable products, I thought this segment was cringy,” wrote a user. “If you want to be sustainable stop making new phones every year, make it upgradable,” wrote another.