Apple celebrates gay weddings in emotional new iPhone X ad
Apple’s new ad for the iPhone X in Australia might just move you to tears.
The company unveiled the ad, titled ‘First Dance’, in the region today to promote its flagship phone.
The video features footage from a number of same-sex weddings, filmed on the phone, set to a cover of the track ‘Never Tear Us Apart’, sung by Aussie musician Courtney Barnett.
The poignance of the ad – which only features LGBT couples – will be apparent to Australians, as the nation continues to see a trickle of its first, hard-won same-sex marriages.
It launches just in time for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which takes place next weekend.
Apple’s description for the ad simply says: “Capture the moment, in the moment, on iPhone X.”
In addition to the 1-minute ad, the company also released three shorter clips focusing on one couple each – ‘Meg and Ann-Marie’, ‘Nick and Rob’, and ‘Antony and Ron’.
Fans were moved by the brand’s clear tribute to the LGBT community, celebrating the moving campaign.
But not everyone was happy.
The avowedly heterosexual actor James Woods, a Trump supporter, tore into the ads on Twitter.
He wrote: “Evidently heterosexual couples didn’t make the cut in Tim Cook’s world vision of diversity”.
Some attempted to point out that there is no need to celebrate the newfound right of straight couples to get married, given they have already had that right for hundreds of years.
But unsurprisingly the nuance was lost on Woods, a failed actor who has a history of anti-LGBT comments.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook is one of the most prominent gay role models in the business world.
Mr Cook, who has helmed the company since 2011, has been a consistent voice for equality.
The company threw its support behind equal marriage in Australia in 2016, signing onto a list of big businesses calling for equality.
Mr Cook came out as gay in an op-ed in 2014.
(Getty)
He wrote:”Let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.
“For years, I’ve been open with many people about my sexual orientation. Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I’m gay, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference in the way they treat me.
“Of course, I’ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people’s differences. Not everyone is so lucky.”
He added that being gay had given him a “deeper understanding” of what it means to be a minority.
“It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.”
He has subsequently spoken out on LGBT rights a number of times – condemning anti-gay legislation pushed by then-Governor Mike Pence in his native Indiana, as well as lending the firm’s weight to the argument for equality in the US Supreme Court same-sex marriage case.
Most recently, Apple has taken a firm stance against regressive actions on equality by the Trump administration – and it was among companies to endorse the proposed US Equality Act – US-wide Democratic legislation that would outlaw anti-LGBT discrimination in all 50 states.
A study recently revealed that Apple CEO Tim Cook’s interventions on gay rights help to boost interest in the tech giant’s products.
