Apple's Famous '1984' Commercial Aired 41 Years Ago Today

[nburwell]

To think, I was 2 years old when this commercial aired. Thanks MR for making me feel old. 😂

 

[dominiongamma]

It is a shame they don't go back to the original film and scan it at 4k, it should be restored and not left to rot because of licensing restrictions. Its a part of history that should be preserved.

It’s an ad lol many ads throughout history that made a bigger impact. Since we live in a digital environment it will always be preserved

 

[DominikHoffmann]

Of course, ca. 2014 became like 1984.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Since we live in a digital environment it will always be preserved

Unfortunately that isn't always the case

 

[skippermonkey]

What? Is 41 years a major milestone now?

 

[I7guy]

Woman with white shirt and orange shorts holding a hammer, created with Apple Intelligence. Look how bold and brave this little company from April 1, 1976 has pushed humanity forward.

View attachment 2474695

Absolutely. In 1976 doing something like this was a pipe dream. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[I7guy]

Apple continues to innovate - 41 years later.

 

[routine_analyst]

Woman with white shirt and orange shorts holding a hammer, created with Apple Intelligence. Look how bold and brave this little company from April 1, 1976 has pushed humanity forward.

View attachment 2474695

This is epic. LOL

 

[webkit]

And now Apple epitomizes all the dystopia they were critically highlighting

The legacy of Tim Cook

It's not like Apple wasn't becoming or hadn't become like what they were rebelling against in the 1984 commercial by the end of Steve Jobs' run as CEO in 2011. Apple's business practices such as tightly controlling its supply chain, limiting third-party access to its platforms, creating proprietary systems, etc. were not far removed from the corporate behavior they were once against. In that sense, Tim Cook and Apple are continuing the latter years "legacy" of Steve Jobs.

 

[Macalway]

Things have sort of come full circle.

Do we need now to break free of Apple?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Looks like a putter.

I was thinking it looks like something she bought from Redd while incarcerated at Shawshank... along with some posters of attractive movie stars of the day. What is she up to???

 

[mikeboss]

probably the best quality you'll find anywhere. using inverse telecine I reverted it back to 23.976 fps (no judder).

 

[Mousse]

Apple continues to innovate - 41 years later.

There was a period all they cranked out were boring beige boxes; back when the sugar water peddler ran things.

 

[smaffei]

Sadly you are correct. Apple is part of that world now. Tim Cook solidified that fact.

“Why are you posting anti-Apple comments on MacRumors instead of closing your Daily rings Conscript 378942?!?”

 

[Tonewheel]

And I suspect many of the commenters weren't alive then, or certainly not even 10 years old.

 

[videosoul]

The best and most influential commercial in history of marketing

Along with the Guinness White Horses advert!

 

[turbineseaplane]

And I suspect many of the commenters weren't alive then, or certainly not even 10 years old.

What point are you making with this?

 

[con2apple]

And today the EU is cracking down to give users a chance to see something that is not controlled by Apple.

Is TikTok actually back in the App Store yet?
I'm not a user, but the ban has been lifted, hasn't it?

This is a question that only needs to be asked because Apple controls the “personal computer in your hand”. This question does not arise on Windows and Android. Or the Mac.

 

[SnowPenguin]

Apple continues to innovate - 41 years later.

They do. Their Apple silicon is an example of that, but they no longer feel like rebels. More like, the rebels have won after years of struggles.

 

[veggiespam]

To be persnickety, it aired twice. In order to qualify for award season at the start of 1984, it had to air at some point in 1983. So, they aired it late night on some random TV channel in the middle of nowhere. It won best advert in the Clio awards for 1984, later Hall of Fame)

 

[ghanwani]

What a weird ad.

 

[drrich2]

We need a 2025 update to that commercial. Instead of the woman, we'll have Tim Cook in a business suit running, with $100 bills flying off of him like confetti, cheered on by stock holders. They won't need a big screen for the corporate face, because Cook will be wearing a Vision Pro. He can throw a giant Apple Pencil at the face...

 

[9081094]

...which presumably immediately thereafter, she takes HER phone back so he doesn't even get to keep his(?) gift(?). At least there's hope for the daughters who both remembered and gave him a gift that he gets to keep beyond a few minutes.

I'm not sure the general theme of all of those commercials- which all seemed to revolve around using AI to put one over on other people- is the best benefit of AI to push. I don't exactly get excited about brand new tech with the main highlight being my ability to fool others. I know AI is not just that... but that's the advertised core message underpinning all of those commercials: how smart(?) the lead is for using AI to fool those around them. Can AI not do any good? Or is it only about being sneaky, tricky, lazy, etc? Again, rhetorical but that whole set of commercials seem to cast it only the one way.

To see how helpful AI can be and what a real personal assistant is capable off, watch the movie of the highlights of the S25. While Apple is still stuck in image playgrounds, genmoij and a braindead Siri.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Yes, of the 3 characters in the commercial (the face on the screen, the audience and the woman), let's call who's who now in 2025.

In 1984, I believe that was:

• face on screen: IBM/PC establishment

This one is Silicon Valley as a whole, the VC driven, minimal viable product, enshirtification cartel of companies that own the operating systems and the platforms, both social and hosting at lower layers.

• audience: PC users/lemmings, supporting whatever the face/corp says & does without question

Mostly unchanged, just the team names are different and reshuffled. Thanks to the cloud and constant software updates, the users actually have less real control now.

• woman: us, the rebels, resisting and capable of "think different"

Nobody. I would love for someone to name the next Steve Jobs or any of the other tech visionaries of the last generation. Maybe hindsight is 20/20, but I feel like the motivations are very different now.

 

[zarmanto]

I'm surprised given the importance of this ad, that Apple have never officially released it for viewing, remastered or not. In fact I'm surprised they haven't opened an archive of their ads and keynotes, considering that's what they are famous for.

They did at one point have an official collection of previous ads; they have since discontinued internal hosting of those ads in favor of YouTube hosting on their official YouTube channel -- and even more recently, it seems that they have removed many of their legacy ads in favor of newer material. This is indeed disappointing, because some of their very best stuff was on that channel... and now, the only way that many people will ever view those ads is by way of often mediocre copies of copies on some other random YouTuber's channel.

That said: a copy of the 4K remaster is here, and a copy of the touched up version where the runner is wearing an iPod is here.