Apple once again takes aim at viewers' heart strings with its annual holiday TV spot, though the 2016 rendition features a lighthearted twist, as Frankenstein's monster shows his sentimental side.
The two-minute-long cinematic ad, dubbed "Frankie's Holiday," features the iconic horror monster limping from the mountains into town, drawing gasps from the locals. Frankenstein's undead creation then screws red and green Christmas-colored lights into where bolts are typically located on his neck.
As the townspeople watch, Frankenstein's monster pulls out an iPhone 7 and opens the Voice Memos app, playing back a recording he made earlier of a music box with the tune "(No Place Like) Home For the Holidays."
As the monster begins to sing, the reaction from the crowd is muted and his voice drifts off as the light goes out on the green bulb on his neck.
A young girl emerges from the crowd and signals Frankenstein's monster over to her, and he leans down to allow her to tighten the bulb on his neck. The two then join in song, which inspires the rest of the crowd to take over singing.
Overwhelmed by the response, the character first created by Mary Shelley in her 1818 novel "Frankenstein" stops singing, brought to tears by the fact that the townspeople show him acceptance.
The ad ends with the tagline: "Open your heart to everyone."
As with other recent Apple ads, the company's products take a backseat to the story being told, focusing instead on how the devices can allow us to connect with one another.
Apple's 2015 holiday ad enlisted singers Stevie Wonder and Andra Day to perform Wonder's 1967 song "Someday at Christmas." The ad shows Wonder, who is blind, mixing music on a MacBook with VoiceOver.
And in 2014, Apple's ad "The Song" showed a younger woman using the company's devices to mix a duet of herself and an old recording of her grandmother. That ad showed the woman using a MacBook, an iPhone and an iPad to create the perfect holiday gift.
Finally, in 2013, Apple's ad "Misunderstood" featured a boy staring at his iPhone during a family gathering, only to eventually reveal he had been editing together a movie to show to everyone. The TV spot went on to win a Creative Arts Emmy for "Outstanding Commercial."
Over the years, Apple's ads have earned a reputation for being at times emotional, funny, eye catching, and most of all iconic, ranging from the heralded "1984" Super Bowl spot to the "Get a Mac" campaign that featured physical embodiments of a Mac and a Windows PC.