Apple's latest ad spot collection urges people to "Quit Quitting," by showing Apple Watch users running away from furniture.
With the start of 2026 on the horizon, many people take the opportunity to make resolutions for the new year to get fit. This time around, Apple wants people to stick to their resolutions, via the Apple Watch.
A collection of new ad spots posted to the official Apple YouTube account is collectively titled "Quit quitting with Apple Watch." In each video, a person is shown being chased by furniture as they undergo a workout.
One video starts with the stark warning that "By January 9th, most people have quit their resolutions," before a bar stool comes to life and smashes a window. The defenestration is a bid to catch up with a nearby runner, who glances at their Apple Watch for a progress update.
The other two videos feature a double bed pursuing a park runner and an armchair skimming over puddles on a sidewalk after another person. All three end with the statement "Don't give in," then the Apple Watch logo.
A nearby motivator for the unmotivated
The timing of the ad spots makes sense considering the Apple Watch's various fitness functions that will help a motivated user work out. Certainly, it gives you data points as you run or cycle, warn if your heart rate drastically changes, and even prompt you to sleep better at night.
However, the ad really addresses that initial motivation to work out. New Years Day is a prime time to start a new health regimen, but the majority of those who take up the self-appointed challenge will almost certainly be existing wearers.
It is probable that, while the ad aims to sell more Apple Watches to the public, it may be a call to action for existing owners to go and work out. Of course, putting said Apple Watch to good use at the same time.
AppleInsider is keenly aware of how the Apple Watch functions, and in some cases, how it isn't really a way to force people to work out. In our three-month review of the Apple Watch Series 10, one writer confessed that the most exercise they get is the occasional dog walk, not the up-tempo vision of the ad-spots.
In 2021, Mike Wuerthele wrote about the Apple Watch and being made to wear it under orders from his doctor. He had repeatedly tried to get on with the wearable, but wrote about his reluctance to use it pre-cardiac monitoring order.
He simply didn't feel it was needed given his lifestyle at the time, but an urging to monitor his heart led to him wearing it full-time.
The Apple Watch as a presence was one that was seemingly silently judging his lifestyle. He felt that he had to consider food alternatives, to meditate, and thanks to Apple Watch poking after a car accident, deal with sleep routine changes.
This is something that isn't just felt by Mike. In 2019, I wrote about how the Apple Watch was a continual and close-by motivator, albeit with encouragement through nagging.
Constantly pinging about new streaks and warning about failing to close the all-powerful rings was, at the time, a massive annoyance following the inevitable new device honeymoon period.
Six years later, that same Apple Watch is still on my wrist. A battle-worn automatic reminder that I am unhealthy and always need to do more.
While I too have become a reluctant wearer, there has been some progress. I'm now about 60 pounds lighter than I was at my heaviest, though how much can be contributed to the Apple Watch remains unknown.
Apple's latest marketing salvo may encourage some who were on the fence about a workout resolution to give it a try. It may not necessarily be a long-lasting effort by the user, who too may feel a little annoyed by the wearable's constant pings over time.
But ultimately, at least they will have tried.
