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But why mention it here?
Because, whether you think it's brilliant or cringe, there are three reasons why I love it:
1. It's a fantastic way to communicate sustainability.
Who reads sustainability reports? A handful of specialist people.
This video has been seen over 4 million times and counting (4 MILLION!!) and sparked a lot of debate.
Apple has found a way to communicate its annual report in an engaging way that reaches way more people than going down the traditional technical report route.
It uses storytelling and critical tension in a clever way that makes you want to watch the whole video (notice how they aren't saying "Look at us, we are brilliant" directly; in fact, they pre-empt our own doubts and cynicism in Mother Nature's lines).
2. Facts are integrated into the story, they are not the whole story like in a report.
The video takes us on a journey which includes facts and figures - you can nit-pick and use the term greenwashing for some of the claims, like the new carbon-neutral product - but still, brilliantly anti-boring communication.
3. Apple makes sustainability key to its strategy, and this is shown by the presence of Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, in the video.
Maybe not as brilliant an actor as Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer (Mother Nature), but he literally put his face into it.
He didn't delegate it to his Chief Sustainability Officer.
Also, Mother Nature is a key stakeholder, not an afterthought.
This video wants to signal that sustainability is Apple's business as usual now.
So, next time you have to put together a report (even without Apple's budget), think outside the box.
How can you tell a story, instead of just dishing out facts and figures?
Could it be illustrated, instead of just text?
How can you demonstrate that sustainability is key to your company's strategy and how can you make the Planet your key stakeholder?
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