Partizan's Michael Gracey Directs Apple's Chinese New Year Ad, "I Made a Mixtape for You"
January 13, 2025
Michael Gracey, of The Greatest Showman fame, puts his directorial frame on Apple’s iPhone 16 Chinese New Year ad: “I Made a Mixtape for You.”
Created by TBWAMedia Arts Lab Shanghai, the work kicks off during a New Year’s dinner, where a guy is getting hectored by his family for not having a girlfriend and settling down. He sardonically shows them an anime character and tells them she’s his beloved—a nod to video games where you can date virtual peeps. These were always popular in Asia, but are now a gaming staple amongst the Gen Z and Alpha sets.
The father sighs and talks about how in his day, dating culture wasn’t so complex; all it took was a mixtape to get the love ball rolling. “That was the ‘90s,” the son sneers, which … let’s be honest, that hurt us.
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