Selling a Feeling: Pedro Pascal’s Heartfelt Apple Ad

We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: storytelling is so important in marketing.

Apple gets it. Their latest ad for AirPods 4 is a full-on emotional experience. Directed by Spike Jonze and starring none other than Pedro Pascal (who the internet cannot get enough of), the five-minute short film Someday is a reminder of how powerful a good story can be.

It starts with heartbreak. Literally. Pedro’s character is fresh off a breakup, wandering through a cold, colourless world. But the second he turns on Active Noise Cancellation, things shift. The soundtrack kicks in, the palette warms up, and suddenly we’re in a surreal, feel-good dance sequence that somehow captures what it’s like to finally shake off the sadness.

There’s no flashy product demo. No long list of features. Just a feeling—a beautifully told story about how music can pull us out of a low moment. It’s subtle, it’s smart, and it sticks with you.

And that’s the magic of it. As marketers, we’re constantly trying to bridge the gap between product and emotion—between what something does and how it feels. This ad skips the hard sell entirely and goes straight for the connection. You walk away not just thinking about the AirPods, but about the moment, the mood, and maybe even your own go-to playlist for getting out of a funk.

It’s also a reminder that sometimes, the most effective campaigns are the ones that don’t follow the formula. They slow down. They lean into creativity. They trust the audience to follow the emotion—and they end up being far more memorable because of it.