1st Mac Ad Revisited – “1984”

“1984” was the commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh Computer to the world.  Its only daytime televised broadcast was on 22 January 1984 during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII. 1984 used the unnamed heroine to represent the coming of the Macintosh (indicated by her white tank top with a cubist picture of Apple’s Macintosh computer on it) as a means of saving humanity from “conformity”

Social Impact:

Super Bowl viewers were overwhelmed by the startling ad. The ad garnered millions of dollars worth of free publicity, as news programs rebroadcasted it that night. It was quickly hailed by many in the advertising industry as a masterwork. Advertising Age named it the 1980s Commercial of the Decade, and it continues to rank high on lists of the most influential commercials of all time […] 1984 was never broadcast again, adding to its mystique.

180px-Macintosh_128k_transparencyI’m a self confessed Mac Geek. I even own the Mac Classic from 1984 that is still running with Mac 7.1 system. The Macintosh is the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contains a 9-inch monitor and comes with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case allows the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling price of US$2,495.  The sales of the Macintosh were strong from its initial release and reached 72,000 on May 3, 1984; afterwards sales plummeted. After its successor was introduced, it was rebadged as the Macintosh 128K to differentiate it.

If you visit apple site you can check out how the get a mac ads have evolved through the years.

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