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Apple 1984 Super Bowl Commercial Introducing Macintosh Computer (HD)

Robert Cole (RobertKCole) · 5.2M views · 2010-06-26 · 1:04

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Overview

The famous 1984 Apple Macintosh Super Bowl commercial, directed by Ridley Scott and based on Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. It casts the Mac as a force freeing individuals from a Big Brother figure, widely read as aimed at IBM.

On Hacker News

Cited as the standard example of a hugely effective emotional ad that sold a brand image rather than product details.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2017–2023

Topics

Tech company stories & documentariesArts & entertainment (other)GUI, HCI & interface history
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What people said

Lio · 2023-12 · Reference

> It's the ancestor of "Mac vs PC". That's an odd turn of phrase considering that both the Mac and the PC predate the Amiga. If anything surely the Mac's Ridley Scott directed launch Super Bowl ad was the start of "Mac vs PC". People loved the Amiga because it had a lot of modern features for the time and was reasonably priced. You're definitely right, it's the little computer that could. The demo scene loved the Amiga because a lot of hardware features were left undocumented ready for you to discover and wow your friends with. [VIDEO]

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iSnow · 2021-10 · Reference

>that people in 1985 were having the exact same discussions we are today about the computer and it's effect on privacy with respect to "big brother" and the totalitarian government's obsession with collecting information on people. Sure did, the 1970's and early 1980's were the birth time of the computer privacy movement. That's where the iconic Apple commercial has its background: [VIDEO] Of course, today everyone is spending their time enjoying indoctrination in front of a miniature Apple screen instead of getting called into a center...

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jedberg · 2020-08 · Reference

Here's the short they just released making fun of Apple's 1984 commercial: [LINK] Edit: The youtube comments are hilarious because no one knows what it's a spoof of. For those who don't know: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Robert Cole (RobertKCole), played through YouTube.

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