Facebook hits 1 billion users and releases advert

Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has officially announced on the company blog that Facebook has reached 1 billion active users.

In the official blog post, he writes:

"This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month. If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you.

Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life. I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too."

To celebrate reaching 1 billion, Facebook hired ad agency Wieden + Kennedy — best known for its Nike work — to create the 90-second film above.

The ad compares Facebook to chairs, bridges, basketball and other vehicles that bring people together.

"What we’re trying to articulate is that we as humans exist to connect, and we at Facebook to facilitate and enable that process," Rebecca Van Dyck, Facebook’s head of consumer marketing, told Advertising Age.

“We make the tools and services that allow people to feel human, get together, open up. Even if it’s a small gesture, or a grand notion — we wanted to express that huge range of connectivity and how we interact with each other.”

In Zuckerberg's blog post, he said: “For the first time in our history, we’ve made a brand video to express what our place is on this earth. We believe that the need to open up and connect is what makes us human. It’s what brings us together. It’s what brings meaning to our lives.”