In yet another promo for Apple TV+’s intriguing workplace thriller Severance, Apple CEO Tim Cook gets in on the action. Severance director and executive producer Ben Stiller dropped a video Friday morning on X.com starring the mild-mannered tech honcho. Cook reports for orientation as an innie on the severed floor of Lumon Industries.
The video is short, but Cook isn’t bad — especially in the elevator, where he shows his severed transformation in consciousness (with the help of some special effects). Then, near the end of the video, he made me laugh out loud.
In new Severance promo, innie Tim C. reports for work at Lumon Industries
The new video follows a parade of recent Apple TV+ marketing stunts for the second season of the popular, and apparently profitable, sci-fi thriller Severance. They include a workplace popup in New York City’s Grand Central Station, plus a video entitled “Lumon Is Listening” that promotes the Severance brain surgery as a work-life balance solution.
Then came a Lumon management training video starring severed floor manager Mr. Milchick and his new number two, the weirdly young Miss Huang. The marketing onslaught might be annoying with some shows, but the spots are clever and Severance is one of the best shows on Apple TV+, so keep em’ coming!
“Was helping this new guy find his office this morning …” Stiller wrote in his post, referring to Cook.
See innie Tim Cook report for work at Lumon Industries:
Was helping this new guy find his office this morning… pic.twitter.com/ldBBvH7AmU
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) January 24, 2025
In the roughly 80-second video, Cook enters the elevator to go down to the severed floor in Lumon’s basement. Helped along by some of the usual camera tricks distorting his head a bit, Cook flutters his eyes and settles into a contented half-smile. Then he steps off the elevator and starts walking down those now-familiar long white hallways. Finally, he comes to a room where Mr. Milchick (played by Tramell Tillman) is waiting.
“Tim C.,” says Milchick, smiling. “The core of the Apple.”
The goofy, skeptical smile and slow nod Cook returns is pretty funny. As a severed employee, he might not know what Milchick is talking about (or maybe he’s aware that he gave up that Apple gig for this new thing), yet he seems in on the joke. Milchick starts a video with the title screen, “Severance Season 2.”
Photo: Apple TV+
Watch Severance on Apple TV+
To help catch up on Severance, read our recaps of season two’s first episode and second episode. Then you can catch new episodes each Friday (or possibly Thursday night after 6 p.m. Pacific, when Apple TV+ often makes new episodes available).
Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. Customers who buy a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.
Apple TV+ is home to more than 200 exclusive movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso). The service also offers documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
