You’ve seen the spot. Plenty of times, I’m sure. But a new Adweek article from Steve Hayden, one of the spot’s creators, sheds a little more light on Apple’s “1984.”
When [Steve] Jobs and Apple CEO John Sculley finally saw the rough cut of the spot, Jobs said, “This is going to cause an information vacuum. We’ve got to fill that vacuum with the real story.” So he ordered up a 20-page insert for Time and Newsweek, as well as a series of product spots highlighting what was different about the Mac from all the other green screen computers of the era.
It’s worth remembering that in its time, the original Mac was underpowered, overpriced, and couldn’t do much. And it needed a serious introduction beyond 1984. Click here for the rest of those print ads. Warning: A lot of them have copy. Long copy. Beware!