Kim Gehrig snags Emmy for joyful Apple commercial about accessibility

Somesuch director Kim Gehrig has secured an Emmy for her work on The Greatest, the Apple ad which took over the internet in November 2022. The spot showed how seven disabled people use Apple’s in-built accessibility features to solve challenges and create daily routines.

It rose to acclaim instantly. With a script and story driven by the real experiences of its cast, The Greatest amassed millions of views within its first week of launch, timed for International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It won Ad Age’s best ad of 2022 and three D&AD graphite pencils for film, casting and use of music (Gehrig had been awarded by D&AD in 2021, too). The spot was soundtracked to a rendition of I Am The Greatest by Spiniflex Gum and Marliya Choir, which featured quotes from Muhammad Ali, a Parkinson’s advocate.

Apple CD Alice Tonge worked on the spot with Gehrig, having previously delivered Channel 4’s monumental 2016 Paralympics campaign. Signed, subtitled and audio described, it was Channel 4’s most accessible spot ever in 2016. The broadcast channel found that 76 per cent of people felt the campaign opened their eyes to what disabled people are able to do.

Kim Gehrig has played a part in some of the most memorable ads of the past few years. Among them is Droga5’s excellent work for The New York Times, Life Needs Truth, which explored journalism through the rhythm of jazz and informed many subsequent campaigns.

Though, even when Gehrig is doing more bread-and-butter work, for someone like Lurpack, the results are still gold. Her 2018 ad for the brand turned the spreading motion that you associate with a good piece of toast into a slow panning technique. Gehrig continues her work with Apple, more recently working on a campaign with Rihanna for Apple Music.