Amaya Toman A week before its Super Bowl debut, Apple's iconic commercial known as "1984" made its theatrical debut today. The revolutionary ad, promoting the revolutionary personal computer, really scored big in theaters.
A revolution in cinemas
It was clear to Apple Computer executives that their Macintosh deserved a truly unique promotion. Before the "1984" commercial even aired as part of the Super Bowl, they paid for it to run for several months at film distribution company ScreenVision. The one-minute commercial met with an incredible response from the audience.
The spot first aired on December 31st, 1983 at one o'clock in the morning in Twin Falls, Idaho - just long enough to still be nominated for ad of the year. With its drama, urgency and "filminess", it was quite different from previous advertisements for apple products.
The ad made a very clear reference to George Orwell's novel "1984". The opening shots are set in dark colors and show a crowd of people marching through a long tunnel into a darkened movie theater. In contrast to the uniform, dark clothing of the characters is the red and white sports outfit of a young woman with a hammer, running with the police on her heels, down the aisle of the movie theater to the big screen with "Big Brother". A thrown hammer shatters the canvas and text appears on the screen, promising Apple's revolutionary new Macintosh personal computer. The screen will go dark and the rainbow Apple logo will appear.
Director Ridley Scott, whose Blade Runner saw the light of day one and a half years before the apple company spot, was hired by producer Richard O'Neill. The New York Times reported at the time that the ad cost $370, screenwriter Ted Friedman specified in 2005 that the spot's budget was an incredible $900 at the time. The actors who appeared in the commercial were paid a daily fee of $25.
The ad was created by the California agency Chiat/Day, co-writer Steven Hayden, art director Brent Tomas and creative director Lee Clow participated in its creation. The ad was based on an unrealized 'Big Brother'-themed press campaign: "There are monstrous computers infiltrating large corporations and the government that know everything from what motel you've slept in to how much money you have in the bank. At Apple, we're trying to balance this by giving individuals the computing power that until now has only been reserved for corporations."
Democratize technology
The 1984 spot was directed by Ridley Scott, who has films such as Alien and Blade Runner to his credit. The runner was portrayed by British athlete Anya Major, "Big Brother" was played by David Graham, the voiceover was by Edward Grover. Ridley Scott cast local skinheads in the roles of anonymous persons in dark uniforms.
Copywriter Steve Hayden, who worked on the ad, confided years after the ad aired how chaotic its preparations were: "The intention was to try to remove people's fear of technology at a time when owning a computer made about as much sense as owning controlled missile with a flat flight path. We wanted to democratize technology, to tell people that the power is literally in their hands."
What might have seemed like a huge bet on uncertainty at the beginning worked out perfectly. The ad created a huge stir in its day and is still referred to today as iconic and revolutionary – regardless of what effect it actually had on Macintosh sales. Apple started to get a lot of buzz - and that was important. In an incredibly short period of time, a huge number of people became aware of the existence and relative affordability of personal computers. The ad even got its sequel a year later, called "Lemmings".
Up for the Super Bowl
Steve Jobs and John Sculley were so excited by the result that they decided to pay for one and a half minutes of airtime during the Super Bowl, America's most-watched TV show every year. But not everyone shared their enthusiasm. When the spot was shown to Apple's board of directors in December 1983, Jobs and Sculley were surprised by their negative reaction. Sculley was even so confused that he wanted to suggest to the agency that he sell both versions of the spot. But Steve Jobs played the ad to Steve Wozniak, who was absolutely thrilled.
The ad eventually aired during the SuperBowl during the game between the Redskins and the Riders. At that moment, 96 million viewers saw the spot, but its reach did not end there. At least every major television network and about fifty local stations mentioned the ad repeatedly. The spot "1984" has become a legend, which is difficult to repeat on the same scale.
