Why Apple's 1984 Comm. is good.

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Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I was born in 1984, therefore, I don't have the complete history on what makes the Apple commercial so awesome. I love it, but don't think I quite understand it, and its symbolism. Is it just because it is so not what anyone would be expecting from a computer commercial, and that it is also breaking away from the "norm"? Thoughts/Explanations are welcome.
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  • Reply 1 of 28
    Man, a lot is behind that commercial but I'll try to explain. It is basically a metaphorical meaning, Apple represented by the woman with the hammer, IBM by the face on the screen. The people in the seats are the common people, conformed by the IBM guy on the screen.



    The commercial is a play on George Orwell's book about the future, where oddly enough the year he chose to be the "future" was 1984. In that book, there were people controlled by the all knowing, and seeing government. Jobs and Ridley Scott used this idea to convey their message about what the PC industry was becoming, and what Apple's role in it was to be.



    Is that it?
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  • Reply 2 of 28
    Yep. Read "1984" and "Brave New World" and the commercial will be put more in context. Also, it (the commercial) helped make the Super Bowl the premiere venue for showcasing new ad campaigns.
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  • Reply 3 of 28
    dogcowdogcow Posts: 713member
    Didn't the timing of the end of the cold war have some significance as well? or am just pulling crap out my butt.
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  • Reply 4 of 28
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    And the girl had big titties. An absolute must in advertising. All that "1984" and metaphor crap is secondary fluff, built into something big and meaningful by geeks.













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  • Reply 5 of 28
    cubs23cubs23 Posts: 324member
    Thanks, that is a great explanation. That truly is a great commercial then. That is awesome. Side note, just got my bluetooth apple mouse. It rocks.
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  • Reply 6 of 28
    Eh, the commercial is okay, very edgy, not the type of stuff you'd see today, or back then.



    I still can't get over those running shorts that girl is wearing! gah
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  • Reply 7 of 28
    Also a lot of people hated the commercial and it was all over the news.



    "No advertising is bad advertising"



    Some movie theaters even continued to play the add well after their contracts where up.
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  • Reply 8 of 28
    It played in movie theaters? That's cool. Apple should play iPod commercials before the previews.
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  • Reply 9 of 28
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    I like that they digitally added an iPod to the girl.
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  • Reply 10 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Dogcow

    Didn't the timing of the end of the cold war have some significance as well? or am just pulling crap out my butt.



    The Soviet Union didn't collapse until 1991, (and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989), so that probably had little to do with the ad.



    Definitely read Orwell's 1984 and the ad will be more understandable (plus it's just a book that everyone should read for their own well being)
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  • Reply 11 of 28
    akumulatorakumulator Posts: 1,111member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by agent302

    The Soviet Union didn't collapse until 1991, (and the Berlin Wall fell in 1989), so that probably had little to do with the ad.



    Definitely read Orwell's 1984 and the ad will be more understandable (plus it's just a book that everyone should read for their own well being)




    don't need to read it, we're about to live it.
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  • Reply 12 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Akumulator

    don't need to read it, we're about to live it.



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  • Reply 13 of 28
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    A Bush/Ashcroft jab, I'm guessing.
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  • Reply 14 of 28
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Messiahtosh





    I believe that Akumulator is attempting to bash Bush here. Try again.
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  • Reply 15 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026

    I believe that Akumulator is attempting to bash Bush here. Try again.



    Haha, honestly wow. Not to get all political but here goes the reason Bush wont be getting bashed by me anytime soon.



    I'd never vote for a Democrat soley based on the economic position I'm in compared to the one that I would be in if a Democrat was in office.
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  • Reply 16 of 28
    Bush? That guy's hilarious!



    No, I'm not Bush bashing.
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  • Reply 17 of 28
    Politics bickering belongs in AppleOutsider.



    Stay on topic!
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  • Reply 18 of 28
    muahmuah Posts: 165member
    If you were born in 1984, then you probably don't realize what a pain using a pc was before gui's and mutithreading either. You used to have to start the computer by loading the OS from a 5 1/4 floppy, and then swap out the floppy so you could load a program. And swap again between those 2 and another one if you wanted to save.



    Most people really thought using computers was to be left to the geeks that could "talk the same language" so-to-speak. You probably don't remember PC's before the use of windows 95, or definitely before windows 3.x, so point and click makes intuitive sense to you. Macintosh was great because it was smooth and clean and beautiful in the world where everyone expected a computer to be hard to use and mind numbing.



    Macintosh really did revolutionalize the use of PC's. To be fair, most of us are still stuck being the drones listening to the giant head. Our gui just looks better than it used to. I like the Mac better than the PC, but it isn't an evolution ahead of PC's like it used to be (I welcome evidence, not just blind flaming).
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  • Reply 19 of 28
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Relax, Brad. It was, what, three posts? I only answered Messiahtosh's to Akumulator's comment. No bickering, just an honest stab at what I thought it was about.



    Just be glad we're not abusing the "does this go into Digital Hub?" thing you seem to be struggling with lately.



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  • Reply 20 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by muah

    If you were born in 1984, then you probably don't realize what a pain using a pc was before gui's and mutithreading either. You used to have to start the computer by loading the OS from a 5 1/4 floppy, and then swap out the floppy so you could load a program. And swap again between those 2 and another one if you wanted to save.







    haha I dunno man I was born in 1984 and I was using an amiga that booted of a quarter inch floppy at the age of 4. I still remember how much that sucked.
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