Acclaimed filmmaker Olivia Wilde captured modern student life in a new campaign from Apple promoting its Mac computers.
Wilde, the actress and director of films Booksmart and Don’t Worry Darling, collaborated with agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab and Oscar-winning cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt on the ads. They star characters who think they’ve seen it all on college campuses–until they witness the power of a Mac.
A student impresses his roommate with note-taking using Apple Intelligence on the MacBook Air, while another group of classmates proves a skeptical professor wrong by quickly transferring files via AirDrop. Meanwhile, a librarian who taunts a student is humbled by the simplicity of iPhone Mirroring.
Wilde shows off her tonal range in the ads, which begin in an eerie setting reminiscent of the dystopian world of Don’t Worry Darling, before employing a wry humor akin to the student characters in Booksmart.
This is Wilde’s first project for Apple. She follows in the footsteps of other celebrated directors, from Spike Jonze to Michael Gracey, who have created ads for the tech giant.
But this is not Wilde’s first foray into advertising, having previously shot a commercial for Amazon Prime in 2023.
Apple released Apple Intelligence, an AI-powered software system, in 2024., It’s built into the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. Its debut ads in September 2024 starred Bella Ramsey, the actor from The Last of Us and Game of Thrones.
