Apple’s latest campaign celebrates innovation in Japan’s university extracurricular groups

It's been a long time since Ad Nut's human colleagues were of student age, and so much has changed since then. College classes back in those days consisted of textbooks, pen and paper and an actual human teacher. Extracurricular groups were on the basics like home economics, sewing and handy crafts.

 

Fast forward to 2025 and today's students have ditched textbooks for screens, human teachers for AI tutors and count fancy subjects such as hybrid rocket engineering, stop-motion animation, game development and sports analytics among their extracurricular groups. 

 

This is all made possible of course thanks to the wonders of modern technology. And in its latest campaign, Apple, in partnership with TBWA\Media Arts Lab Tokyo, showcases how Macs and iPhones help students bring ideas to life and collaborate creatively.

 

Titled ‘Mac for Students’, Apple’s campaign celebrates the ingenuity and innovation thriving within Japan’s university extracurricular groups, known as 'circles'. 

 

The central theme of the campaign is that Mac serves as the main tool and partner for students to unleash their creativity and achieve their most ambitious projects. Mac supports students across various fields, including engineering with tools like Fusion 360 and KiCad, artistic endeavors through Adobe Creative Suite and Unity, as well as powerful video analysis and collaboration facilitated by tools like SPLYZA Teams for sports analytics and Microsoft 365 for teamwork.

 

Directed by Koichi Tokuhira, the campaign highlights four university circles:

 

SARD from Muroran Institute of Technology (Hybrid Rocket Engineering)

 

 

studioJACA from Tama Art University (Stop-Motion Animation)

 

 

freshmeeeeeeen from Osaka Electro-Communication University (Game Development)

 

 

ULTIMATES, the Women’s Lacrosse Team from Rikkyo University (Sports Analytics)

 

 

The narratives are told by the students themselves, illustrating how they accomplished their innovative and creative projects using Mac. The campaign premiered on January 2nd during the broadcast of the Hakone Ekiden, Japan’s iconic New Year’s marathon relay, which embodies teamwork, strength, and endurance—qualities that inspire these student circles to produce extraordinary work.

 

Times have clearly changed. Hybrid rocket engineering aided by a super computer is clearly a big leap forward for a next generation curriculum. And how useful it would be for Ad Nut to have a rocket on hand to get away quick when pursued by murderous beasts. Perhaps a place at a Japanese university beckons for Ad Nut this year!