Apple’s iconic “1984” Super Bowl advertisement was broadcast this week 41 years ago. Things that rarely happened

41 years ago, Apple’s first Macintosh was released. It was only two days after the 18th Super Bowl was introduced to the world during the third quarter of commercial breaks. “1984” became a cultural phenomenon and was a turning point for the release of the product, but the Apple Board of Directors has opposed it from the beginning. The background of the legendary advertisement is about to be aired is as follows …

On January 22, 1984, Apple aired the very popular 1984 ad during the 18th Super Bowl, and quickly became famous. Directed by Sir Ridley Scott (the same person) alien and Blade runner) This 60 -second ads created by Apple’s former advertising agency (chiat/day) were inspired by George Owell novels. 1984We foresee the future of dystopia controlled by a Big Brother -like person (jab wrapped in a veil for IBM).

The advertisement starts with a march in which a banging alarm sound and dozens of bald men wearing gray clothes walk toward a large screen of the industrial hall. When the men in the march sit in front of them, a man’s eerie voice is projected on a large screen.

On the other hand, a woman wearing a white tank top with an athletic wear and a picture of Macintosh draws is chased by four police officers wearing a black random clothing, probably in Owell’s 1984 novel. I am. She swings a giant hammer and rushes to the men who are hooked on the Big Brother’s speech.

Today, we celebrate the brilliant first anniversary of the information purification order.

For the first time in history, we have created a pure ideology garden. There, you can safely make each worker bloom from pests that bring inconsistent thoughts.

Unification of our thoughts is more powerful than any fleet or army on earth. We are one ethnic group with one will, one determination, and one cause.

Our enemies will tell themselves to die, and we will bury them in their own turmoil.

We win!

Immediately before the police were caught, she declared a big hammer on the screen after Big Brother declared, “We will win!” Then it became a boom! The destruction of the Big Brother liberates the hearts of men watching the light return to the face.

In the remaining eight seconds of the 60 -minute ad, the narrator will scrape the following black text, and ends with the Macintosh.

On January 24, Apple Computer will announce Macintosh. And you can see why 1984 is not like 1984.

After that, the screen turns black and a rainbow -colored Apple logo is displayed.

Why did “1984” hardly happen?

When Steve Jobs saw this ad for the first time at an internal conference with CHIAT/Day, his first reaction was: This is surprising, “said Apple CEO, John Skly, at the time, to Business Insider. Steve Wozniak also described in the same opinion that it is “better than any science fiction trailer.” However, Apple’s Board of Directors had a completely different idea.

After seeing it for the first time, Mike Markla, a member of the Board of Directors, suggested that a new marketing agency was found and fired CHIAT/DAY. According to Skly, the other members of the Board of Directors had similar opinions. “Others just stared at each other and had a stunned expression … most of them felt this was the worst commercial I’ve ever seen. Not.

“Cold,” Sklylie instructed Chiat Day representative Jay Chig to sell the purchased Super Bowl broadcast time, but Chiat did not obey quietly. At that time, they had two slots, a 60 -second advertisement played in the third quarter, and a short version of 30 seconds played in the second half of the match. Chiat sold only 30 seconds of spots and told Skly that it was too late to sell a 60 -second spot that they did not try.

When Jobs told Waz that he had a problem with his ad, he immediately offered to pay $ 400,000 from his pocket. This is equivalent to half of the advertising broadcast time. “I will pay half if you like.”

This turned out to be unnecessary. The management has finally decided to implement a 100 -day Macintosh’s promotional operation. They had already paid the “1984” production cost and were tied to the broadcast time, so the Super Bowl ad was cut off as a campaign kick -off.

The opposite of Skull’s instructions, Chiat contributed to the success of McKintosh’s success and history in strengthening its status in history. Until 2014, Apple continued to use CHIAT/Day for TV ads.

One of my favorite stories.