On January 22nd, 1984, Apple Computer announced the January 24th
arrival of its Macintosh computer with a clever ad during Super Bowl
XVIII’s third quarter. Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the
memorable ad.- via i
I was watching the Superbowl that year with five other young IBM engineers. I was stunned with the evocative power of that ad as well as Apple's arrogance. There was no question in my mind who they thought was the "Big Brother" of the computer business. My co-workers didn't understand a bit of it.
This ad is sooo overrated - I didn't like it then and it only looks worse. It's a bad riff on Terry Giliam's Brazil. So What? is what I said then - yawn I say now.
The 1984 ad was marketing genius . . . and a huge risk at the time. Well done Apple! For those in my line of work, this ad is famous and a part of advertising history.
Funny how Apple has become more of a "Big Brother" presence then Windows ever was. I still don't understand how Windows as a open platform is considered as Big Brother in this commercial.
JD: "Like the football fans got the 1984 reference…"
Yes, even un-evolved football fans in 1984 were aware of George Orwell. 1984 came up frequently in grunts around tailgate camp fires.
I remember seeing this ad when it first came out, and being thrilled that it was a female athlete. That alone seemed really progressive.
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=162976&title=planex