The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023
Apple Music teases Rihanna's Super Bowl show through A$AP Eva's Rihanna-inspired diamonds
Days before Rihanna's halftime return, Apple Music made hype about culture: a film of Chinatown jeweler A$AP Eva crafting custom Rihanna-inspired pieces.
Apple Music
What it had to solve
Apple Music's first Super Bowl halftime sponsorship would feature Rihanna's return to live performance, and the show itself had to stay secret until game day. An ordinary teaser could only repeat what fans already knew, so the promotion needed another way to build anticipation for the February 2023 show.
How it works
Apple Music was about to present its first Super Bowl halftime show, with Rihanna returning to live performance after years away. The event itself could not be previewed, so the promotion had to make anticipation without showing the stage or the star.
The 'Diamonds' film solved that by entering Rihanna's world instead. It followed A$AP Eva, founder of Popular Jewelry in New York's Chinatown, as she crafted custom pieces inspired by Rihanna - including a diamond-encrusted 'R' - ahead of the singer's performance, set to Rihanna's 2012 song of the same name.
Released in the days before the show as one of Apple Music's Rihanna-inspired teasers, the film turned an unshowable event into something watchable: the craft of an insider jeweler whose store hip-hop artists frequent became the proof that Rihanna was back. D&AD carries the work in its awards archive, which records no separate audience figures.
Why it lands
- A halftime show cannot be previewed, so the teaser dramatised the culture around the artist instead of spoiling the stage.
- Casting a real hip-hop jeweler made the hype feel like culture rather than advertising, with authenticity a trailer could not buy.
- The custom pieces gave fans something concrete to see and talk about before the performance itself.
- Setting the craft to Rihanna's own song let the teaser double as a music moment for Apple Music's catalogue.
What it did
The film gave an unshowable event a watchable face: the craft of a jeweler from Rihanna's own cultural circle became the signal that she was back, and the teaser campaign kept Apple Music's first halftime sponsorship in conversation until game day. The D&AD awards archive carries the work, recording no separate audience figures.
What you can take
When the event itself cannot be shown, advertise the culture around it: an insider's craft can stand in for the star and carry the anticipation.
Since then
Released days before the February 12, 2023 Super Bowl, the teaser ran alongside other Rihanna-inspired Apple Music films, and the singer's halftime return - her first live performance in seven years - drew worldwide attention. The 'Diamonds' film showed how a sponsorship of an unshowable event could still produce watchable, shareable promotion, and the work later entered the D&AD awards archive.
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