In the 6th year of Apple's Shot on iPhone Chinese New Year campaign, we continue to highlight the iPhone's movie-grade camera capabilities to consumers, but maintaining top-of-mind awareness during the noisy holiday season was challenging. As a foreign brand, we needed to build cultural relevance in a sensitive climate, as geopolitical tensions sparked a surge of nationalism in China.

Chinese Opera is a key part of Chinese New Year traditions, tracing back to the first dynasty of Imperial China. The majestic art form of musical theatre has since been supplanted by ever-changing modern entertainment. This year, the ambition for Apple’s annual CNY film is to reinvigorate the ancient art form with the latest iPhone 14 Pro.

Through the Five Passes is a coming-of-age story about a young opera practitioner who goes against all odds to give the performance of a lifetime, even if just for a mere five minutes. Based on a renowned Chinese Opera story, the title itself is a famous expression that embodies a powerful spirit to do whatever it takes to overcome adversity. The story celebrates the spirit of resilience, particularly following the turbulent year of 2022, when people pushed through despite the constant uncertainty of China’s Covid policies.

Camera is an important driver for smartphone purchase in China. CNY SOiP is a key platform to reinforce iPhone’s superiority over the competition by showing off iPhone’s filmmaking capabilities in an entertaining and engaging way.

We therefore needed a story that not only resonated with our audience, but also produce imagery that would demonstrate the best of iPhone’s camera.



Chinese Opera gave us the perfect stage to do that. Its rich colors, dazzling choreography, and intricate detail created a visual spectacle to push the limits of iPhone. Moreover, opera’s position as a fading artwork armed us with a powerful story that resonated widely: As long as we persist, we, too, can overcome the obstacles, no matter what life throws at us.

Traditionally captured in a static frame or onstage play, our ambition was to take Chinese Opera and inject contemporary aesthetics through innovative cinematography. With iPhone’s versatility at our fingertips, we were able to breathe fresh new life into this ancient art form. We captured Chinese Opera with filmmaking techniques that include ingenious camera placements on and off stage, on and around the performers. Getting close enabled us to capture intricate details and dynamic movements to show viewers a never-before-seen side of Chinese Opera, all while showcasing the latest iPhone features.

From dazzling choreography to rich colors, it all came together to create a surrealistic and artistic opera performance from our protagonist in his final encounter. This dream-like sequence represents his personal journey filled with emotional hardships, and is reflected in the powerful yet fluid motions of the camera, altering the viewing experience of Chinese Opera for the modern day audience.

The main film and BTS generated 470 million views, a new record for viewership. The campaign drove 125 million clicks through to Apple’s online store, over four times the traffic from the previous year. Audiences exposed to the campaign showed higher understanding of iPhone’s key features, plus increased purchase consideration and affinity for iPhone. 82% of non-iPhone owners reported strong consideration for iPhone as their next smartphone. Exposed audiences were more motivated to shoot with iPhone and improve their own filmmaking skills. Post campaign tracking also showed that 92% of adults surveyed agreed that Apple understands Chinese culture.

Through the Five Passes garnered positive reaction from industry and entertainment media, as well as the public. Many critics praised the film’s theme of resilience, remarking that it struck the right tone after a difficult 2022 for the country and its people.