Microsoft sings carols to Apple

December 14, 2015

Microsoft Store employees sing Christmas songs to Apple Store employees in New York City.

What would one assume if they saw employees of the local Microsoft Store, confronting their counterparts at the 5th Avenue Apple Store, outside Apple's famous glass cubic store? That World War III had begun? That they were about to witness Homeric moments of epic battle?

The scene actually took place and appears in the new Microsoft Christmas ad. It's a great moment with employees of the two major competitors coming face to face, but instead of a "saloon at Lucky Luke's" type fight, we see hugs between employees of the two companies as a children's choir sings "Let There Be Peace On Earth".

The ad begins with an "army" of Microsoft staff heading out of their recently opened store in Manhattan, with the aim of "bringing a happy message to some old friends". Before we know it, they're outside the notorious glass Apple Store along with a crowd of curious people clearly wondering what's next. Will they witness the biggest downfall in relations between the two rival companies?

Immediately afterwards, we see the Apple Store employees all pouring out of their own store, ready for anything. But it's the children's choir with their wonderful voices that steals the whole show and it seems that, in the end, it will all come to a happy ending. The final line of the ad: 'Spread harmony'.

Microsoft had gotten permission from Apple to film the ad, but the staff at the glass Apple Store had no idea about the whole thing, according to Microsoft's advertising director, Kathleen Hall.

So where did all this "new-found" love come from? What happened to the classic commercials where one rival makes fun of the other's products? Sure, it's the season of love at Christmas - and other morality plays - but you don't go around caroling your opponent. So the whole move seemed like a big surprise to at least some.

Perhaps it's all due to the influence of Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, as described in a Wall Street Journal article earlier this year, which described him as a man who "has bewitched Silicon Valley through their personal energetic diplomacy" and "has forged a new willingness to learn and collaborate with 'outsiders'".

Kathleen Hall describes the advertisement as a moment where "we put aside our differences and get closer to each other", hoping that this "spreading of harmony" will last well into the new year.

Watch the video here.