Fast forward to more recent years, and the story of Best Buy’s holiday commercials shifted from the creators to the .
Most holiday ads are built on nostalgia—snow-covered porches, cookies, and soft piano music. But Best Buy decided to bet on the . Their 2011 "Holiday Tech" campaign didn't feature actors; it featured the actual creators of the gadgets we were all putting on our wishlists.
In the mid-2010s, Best Buy faced what many called an "existential crisis." People were "showrooming"—going into the store to look at a TV, then buying it cheaper on their phones while standing in the aisle. To fight back, their Christmas commercials pivoted to humor and star power. best buy commercial christmas
: "Look at how cool these new apps and creators are!"
, the co-founder of a then-fledgling app called Instagram . Fast forward to more recent years, and the
: "Look at how much faster this computer is!"
The year was 2011, and the world was changing. Steve Jobs had just passed away, the iPhone 4S had introduced us to Siri, and the retail world was bracing for a holiday season that felt caught between the old-school magic of a physical store and the looming shadow of online shopping. Their 2011 "Holiday Tech" campaign didn't feature actors;
The real "story" of these commercials is the history of how we've lived through tech over the last two decades: