For my Media Studies class we got a chance to look into old Mac commercials. This was the commercial that aired during the 1984 Superbowl which introduced the Macintosh to the world. It opens with a bunch of gray figures marching in a line. These drones represent the IMB/Microsoft users. They all crowd into an auditorium and watch a giant Big Brother figure speaking to them. Meanwhile, a female runner tosses a hammer and destroys the TV screen in a heroic manner. A voice-over then states, "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce the Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."
This ad was considered to be a masterpiece by the advertising industry and received the Commercial of the Decade in the 1980s. It also is still considered to be one of the most influential commercials of all time. What also adds to the charm of the commercial is that it never aired again. One hundred days after the ad was shown, the Mac brought in $15 million. Mac had officially become an icon.
Even today, the Mac commercials are still one of the most popular. Here is one of my favorite from the Mac vs. PC campaign.
Although the 1984 commercial and the commercials we see today are very different, I believe that they have the same idea; they portray the competition as boring and typical, and the Mac as revolutionary and breaking out of the norm by being "cool".
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