Research Paper On Apple's 1984

Paper 3: Apple’s 1984

When computers began to enter homes in the 1980s, many Americans were apprehensive to adopt the new technology with its confusing interfaces and ability to absorb massive amounts of data. With grand allusions to George Orwell’s dystopian novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, Apple’s 1984 Macintosh commercial contains gray, lifeless images of a dictator speaking to the masses of brainwashed, robotic-like people via a mono-color video screen. An attractive girl runs through the complex wielding a sledgehammer and eventually shatters the screen. This unnamed girl is meant to represent the new Macintosh computers, saving humanity from the evils of uniformity as well as quenching the fear of computers taking over the world. Through

In reality, the Macintosh was a moderately expensive computer that targeted families and young adults for personal use. The computer, and as a result, the commercial especially target those with technophobia - the fear of super computers and HAL like mainframes used as a medium for increased government surveillance. At the time of the its release, Apple Computer was still a small company and IBM’s uniform PCs dominated the market, crushing competing machines with performance, and forcing themselves into businesses and homes alike. In order to tame the computer paranoia and be successful in such competitive and broad demographic, Apple’s strategy was to get an emotionally influential commercial in front of as many people as possible. With millions of families from throughout the country turning in to watch, Apple aired the commercial in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII. Due to the overwhelmingly positive response and success accredited to the commercial, Apple purchased months of ad time in movie theaters in order to target young couples and families attending the

The only logos to appear in the entire commercial is at the very end, simply citing the release date of the Macintosh. With nothing about product functionality or description of any kind, the commercial caught the curiosity of millions of its viewers. Prior to this one logical statement, there was no obvious information that tied the commercial to Apple, and that is one of the most significant factors in the commercial’s success. Before the commercial debuted, previous Super Bowl spots were either run-of-the-mill generic commercials or introduced products by describing the product itself. Apple’s choice to ignore the product and instead advertise a brand was unheard of at the time. In addition, Apple elected to hire a Hollywood movie director to create the commercial, somebody who could easily connect with audiences through the screen. This paradigm shift in advertising led to immense discussion following the game as news programs replaying the commercial for days trying to figure it out. For one of the first times in history, a commercial went viral, resulting in millions of dollars in free publicity. Since then, many companies have followed Apple’s innovative advertising example. Products are seldom advertised for their features and are instead advertised for their brands and experiences. Ever since the third-quarter of the 1984 Super