Features tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams

For its first TV advertisement of the new year, Apple has taken another slight turn in tone for its latest promotional spot. The new ad for the iPhone 5, called "Dream," features Olympic athletes Serena and Venus Williams and showcases the "Do Not Disturb" feature on the iPhone 5 -- perhaps an unusual choice of focus for the company's flagship product, or signalling the beginning of a new series of "feature" oriented ads.

In the ad (seen below), the sisters appear from each side of the screen as the narrator tells us he is having a dream. The picture then shifts to show that the disembodied storyteller is battling the Williams sisters in ping-pong -- one man playing doubles against the two women. Only his hand and paddle are seen. The narrator explains that he doesn't want to be disturbed from this dream, so he has set his iPhone 5 not to disturb him during certain hours -- and then shows how that is set and also how to allow calls from important contacts to get through if needed.

We return to the (very heated) table tennis action as the narrator is able to keep both sisters working hard to keep the balls in play. He concludes his praise for the Do Not Disturb feature by saying that interrupting a dream such as this -- as he makes a simultaneous winning move that gets past both Serena and Venus -- would be wrong. The two women are, understandably, annoyed at having been bested -- providing for an amusing conclusion.

by MacNN Staff