A Short Film About What Happens When You Share
Apple released Share Your Gifts on November 20, 2018, a three-minute animated short film created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab and animation studio Buck.1, 2
The film follows a young woman who prints the things she makes on her laptop and piles the sheets in a box but keeps everything hidden from the world.2, 3 Her dog accidentally lets the papers loose; they scatter across her snowy town; strangers discover them; and she learns that her work has value beyond herself.3, 4
The soundtrack is "Come Out and Play," an original song written and recorded by 16-year-old Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell at their parents' home using a Mac and Logic Pro X.2 The placement was among Eilish's first major commercial work, months before her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? would confirm her as one of the defining artists of her generation.5
Visually, the film takes cues from Pixar's aesthetic (warm, expressive, and detail-rich), setting it apart from Apple's typically spare, hardware-focused advertising.3 The campaign carried a consistent message: the most powerful thing Apple enables is not the device itself, but what people create and choose to share with it.
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. MacRumors, Juli Clover, "Apple Debuts New 'Share Your Gifts' Holiday Ad", 20 November 2018, off whitelist and used for corroboration only, for the debut of the film on 20 November 2018 as "a three minute animated spot". https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/20/apple-holiday-ad-share-your-gifts/
2. SHOOT Online, "TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Buck Design, Billie Eilish Share Their Gifts For Apple's Holiday Campaign", 26 November 2018, off whitelist and used for corroboration only, for the credits TBWA\Media Arts Lab (agency) and Buck Design (production), for the film being about "a young woman who hides her creativity", and for "come out and play" as the original song that the 16-year-old Billie Eilish created for the film with her producing partner and sibling Finneas O'Connell, "Using her Mac and Logic Pro X", in her parents' home. https://www.shootonline.com/shoot_video2/tbwamedia-arts-lab-buck-design-billie-eilish-share-their-gifts-apples-holiday-campaign/
3. TechCrunch, Romain Dillet, "Apple's holiday ad is an animated short film", 20 November 2018, for the teenager who prints what she makes on her MacBook and piles the sheets in a box, for her dog accidentally opening the window on a cold winter night so that the sheets get out and she follows them through town, for her realising "that sharing feels great", and for the film feeling "like a hybrid between a Pixar movie and a Wes Anderson creation". https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/20/apples-holiday-ad-is-an-animated-short-film/
4. Forbes, David Phelan, "Apple's 2018 Holiday Ad: Heart-Warming Animated Movie Hides Lots Of Secrets (Updated)", 21 November 2018, off whitelist and used for corroboration only, for the snow that fills the first and last scenes of the film and for the dog that "takes matters into his own paws to help others see her creativity". https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidphelan/2018/11/21/apple-2018-holiday-ad-revealed-cute-animated-movie-that-touches-the-heart-billie-eilish-hidden-secrets/
5. Wikipedia, "Billie Eilish", accessed 25 September 2026, for "Come Out and Play" having been released in November 2018 and "written for a holiday-themed Apple Inc. commercial", and for her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? having been released on 29 March 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Eilish
