Today in Digital Marketing - Behind the Ad: "1984" by Apple

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Wednesday, April 26th, and we're all off on a staff retreat today. But in case you missed our big announcement, we've launched a new podcast. It's called Behind the Ad with Todd Maffin. We'll be doing mini documentaries about the world's most talked about ad campaigns, and you are about to hear a sample full episode. If you're not yet subscribed, check us out wherever you get your podcasts, or go to behindthead.page. There's also a link at the top of the show notes.

Starting point is 00:00:28 So while we are away today, please enjoy a sample episode from Behind the Ad. It's the season for new styles and you love to shop for jackets and boots. So when you do, always make sure you get cash back from Rakuten. And it's not just clothing and shoes. You can get cash back from over 750 stores on electronics, holiday travel, home decor, and more. It's super easy. And before you buy anything, always go to Rakuten first. Join free at Rakuten.ca. Start shopping and get your cash back sent to you by check or PayPal.

Starting point is 00:01:02 Get the Rakuten app or join at rakuten.ca. R-A-K-U-T-E-N dot C-A. This episode contains profanity. For Anya Major, it was the casting call of a lifetime. It was 1983, London. She'd been a competitive discus thrower for years, so it was a little weird when a friend recommended that she try out for this TV gig she'd heard about.

Starting point is 00:01:33 But she was tall, blonde. I don't know. Maybe they'd like her? The ad agency, Shia Day, was having a hard time casting for its client's ad. They needed someone who could run up to a mark, spin around with a giant sledgehammer, and throw it forward. Easy peasy, right? Except that most of the people they tested couldn't get the throw off, or they got too dizzy. One person actually threw it really well, a little too well, and narrowly missed hitting an elderly woman who

Starting point is 00:02:01 was walking by the studio. But Anya, Anya was perfect. Earlier that month in California, Apple's board of directors were sitting around a boardroom table. It was tense. Their co-founder Steve Jobs was pitching them on this TV ad idea he had to sell their forthcoming computer called Macintosh. It would be dark, dystopian, and brilliantly iconic. It would be anything anyone would talk about. It would sell computers, for God's sakes. The board wasn't having it. The CEO they'd brought in, a guy named John Scully, also thought it was nuts. Remember, though it's hard to imagine nowadays, a personal computer in the home was almost unheard of in 1984. This tech was state-of-the-art.

Starting point is 00:02:48 Besides, computer ads weren't like this. Much like the product they were trying to sell, the ad was a new breed. The board was so nervous that one board member, a guy named Mike Marcula, reportedly asked if he could get a motion to fire the ad agency. Another board member is said to have buried his head in his hands after hearing the idea.

Starting point is 00:03:08 What does a personal computer have to do with a dystopian future, they asked. Jobs insisted. Trust me, he said. This will be big. The board took a gamble and said yes. Just two weeks later, production started. Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the information purification of victims. The ad, if you remember it, shows hundreds of bald men mindlessly watching a giant screen with a Big Brother-like figure speaking.

Starting point is 00:03:42 Those bald men were not actors. They weren't extras. They were skinheads. Literally recruited off the streets of London as an attempt to lower budget costs. Director Ridley Scott, in an interview some years ago, recalled their casting. And so we organized one of these rather frightening

Starting point is 00:03:57 casting sessions where there were about 300 or 400 youths. And I was surprised how elderly some of the were. I thought it was tended to be a kind of youth movement, but it's not at all. We chose 150 skinheads out of that group. Well, one of the prices they paid for using

Starting point is 00:04:14 real skinheads was some, well, unprofessional behavior on set. The lead actress said later she had to endure sexist remarks made at her while filming. There was no CGI, no animation. It was just as it looked, a giant room. Until 1984, Apple spent about $50,000 on each ad.

Starting point is 00:04:32 This one cost $500,000 to make. To understand the ad, you have to understand two things. First, the inspiration. In 1949, an author named George Orwell wrote a novel that changed the course of culture. The book was called 1984. It was a warning against totalitarianism. It was even banned in the Soviet Union until 1988. The book creates a chilling dystopia that entered the mainstream culture

Starting point is 00:05:07 in a way no one could have imagined. It straight up freaked people out, caused an unsettling feeling of panic. Orwell said he used the former premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, as inspiration for the personality cult of Big Brother, whose thought police forced citizens to engage in double-think or accept contrary opinions at the same time in order for them to believe that

Starting point is 00:05:29 war is peace, freedom is slavery. So yeah, 1984, it was pretty intense and dark. The second thing you need to understand is how Steve Jobs interpreted the world. To him, this was the world we lived in already. At least the business world. Big corporations acted like Big Brother. And Apple was David to the Goliath. It was a message he tried to get in people's heads before, but they weren't quite getting it. This ad, though?

Starting point is 00:06:03 People would get this ad. And on a spring day in 1983, some would see it for the first time. Hi, I'm Steve Jobs. It's May 16th, 1983, more than a half year before the general public would see the ad during the Super Bowl. Steve Jobs is delivering his keynote speech to developers. That year, he was introducing one of the first personal computers to feature a graphical user interface and a mouse. No, not the Macintosh. The Lisa, a computer named after his daughter. But not a personal computer.

Starting point is 00:06:37 The Lisa would retail for $10,000. It was marketed to businesses. Came with the LisaWrite word processor, LisaCalc, and a bunch of other software. Jobs also announced the Apple 3+, the Profile hard drive, and the Apple IIe computer. Then, after a pause, he seemed to start going off script. It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography.

Starting point is 00:07:14 He starts talking about big computer companies that missed the boat on world-changing technologies. Digital equipment, DEC, and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing. Looking around the room, it's clear people are enjoying it, but nobody's quite sure what to make of it. Even back then, Jobs was known as a bit of a nut. A marketing phenom, sure, but, you know, a little crazy-eyed. And then, this. Will Big Blue dominate the entire computer industry?

Starting point is 00:07:52 The entire information age? Was George Orwell right about 1984? The theater lights abruptly turn off and the ad plays. Needless to say, it was a hit. On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984. 184.

Starting point is 00:08:32 The ovation lasted forever. It was the first time an audience had seen it. Well, almost. It turns out Jobs had focus grouped the ad before showing it to anyone, even his own board. And the response from the focus groups? Not good. Actually, people hated it. Some said it reminded them of concentration camps. In fear of how the board and Apple would react to this news, both Jobs and his ad agency decided,

Starting point is 00:09:04 we're not going to show them the focus group results. They did, though, show them the final cut of the ad. The board was still less than impressed. They actually wanted to backtrack and pull out of the coveted Super Bowl slot for fear the commercial would bring negative attention to the company. In fact, the only reason the commercial went ahead was because the ad agency, Chiat Day, wasn't able to sell back the ad slot they bought. Like it or not, they were told, that slot belongs to your client.

Starting point is 00:09:33 Irresponsible for filling it with a commercial. The buildup is over. It's January 22nd, 1984. Derek Harmon. Super Bowl Sunday. And Derek Harmon tried to stay in... It's a day for Americans to gather around their TV, stuff their faces with chicken wings and pizza,

Starting point is 00:09:55 and watch two teams duke it out for a chance to win a ring and a trip to Disney World. But in between all the tackles and field goals, another sort of entertainment takes the country by storm. A commercial extravaganza. Panasonic presents Omnimovie, a camera and video recorder. When you buy a ham, you never quite know what you're getting. Some have water added.

Starting point is 00:10:18 Some are flavored with artificial smoke. So you take the hot, you take the cool, the way it's supposed to be. With artificial smoke. Super Bowl commercials, of course, are the pinnacle of advertisement. Nowadays, the ads that pop up in between plays pull in more than 100 million views. That hefty number makes the price to reserve a spot astronomical, with brands paying millions of dollars for just 30 seconds of airtime during the major event. Back in 1984, those numbers were still high. Apple paid 800 grand to reserve a minute-long chunk.

Starting point is 00:11:00 Apple's co-founder and lesser-known Steve, Steve Wozniak, loved the ad so much, he offered to pay 400 grand out of pocket just to ensure the ad would air. And then, at the end of the third quarter... 10-11 remaining in the first half. Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the information purification. It's hard to know what people thought when they saw it. It was definitely unlike any other ad.

Starting point is 00:11:29 One thing that immediately became clear, this was about more than marketing. The unnamed female heroine symbolized the idea of empowerment. She's wielding a sledgehammer, weaving her way through a bleak world, on a mission to destroy Big Brother and all he stands for. The ad promised a way to combat conformity and assert originality. You gotta wonder if people at home were thinking, who are these people and what are they selling anyway? The Sledgehammer, which in the original script was just a bat, proves to be a metaphor for Macintosh.

Starting point is 00:12:08 They weren't just hitting it out of the park or swinging for the fences. Macintosh was crashing through the restraints of old tech and forging a new path for a new world. One where technology is for the people. It could be in your house. Maybe one day, in the palm of your hands. Close to 78 million people saw the ad that Sunday. And Apple's reward?

Starting point is 00:12:40 Within 100 days of the ad airing, Apple sold 72,000 Macintoshes. See? Steve Jobs must have thought, I fucking told you. But the people behind the ad didn't realize it right away. In fact, Steve Jobs claimed at the time he didn't know a single person who saw it air. One of the Macintosh's lead engineers, a guy named Bill Atkinson, wasn't a sports fan, so he skipped the big game altogether. He didn't know how the commercial landed until he got into the office Monday morning.

Starting point is 00:13:13 Remember, this is 1984. People weren't live-tweeting their every thought back in 84. It took longer for information to trickle out. Even the ad's writer, Steve Hayden, missed the big debut. He was at home washing dishes. He didn't have much interest in American sports and didn't hear about the ad airing until his phone rang minutes after.

Starting point is 00:13:35 The person at the other end of the line, Jay Shiat, the founder of the ad agency, Shiat screamed at him over the phone. How does it feel to be a fucking star, Steve? Apple's famous ad was groundbreaking. It ended up racking in $45 million of free advertising from TV station coverage. And it wasn't just a one-hit wonder. Its legacy wouldn't fade away like a LaserDisc or...

Starting point is 00:14:02 at least a computer. It would last. The trade publication Advertising Age deemed the Apple ad one of the greatest commercials ever made. Most industry historians agree the 1984 Apple ad remains the crowning jewel of Apple advertising. They've had other campaigns, sure, good ones even, but nothing compares to the impact felt by the dark and troubling visuals of a dystopia

Starting point is 00:14:28 straight out of Orwell's 1984. Of the giant tech companies as Goliath, battling the little guys. Over the years, the ad has been parodied and reimagined. In 2004, Apple itself re-released it, but with an added twist. The heroine, still wielding a hammer, now also carried with her an iPod. Clipped to her belt as she ran,

Starting point is 00:14:52 the digital music box demonstrated the dominance of Apple and its continued pursuit of advanced technology. In fact, it's kind of ironic. Who's the Goliath now? And now, 1984 by Apple.

Starting point is 00:15:14 Directed by Ridley Scott. Written by Steve Hayden and Lee Clow of the advertising agency, Chiat Day. Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the information glorification of victims. Shia Day. obeying common principles and rules. Our only recognition of the rules is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on Earth. We are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death

Starting point is 00:15:59 and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail. On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984. So that was it. Your first sample episode from Behind the Ad, a new podcast which we've launched. You can find it anywhere you get your podcasts, or if you want to get a quicker version, just go to behindthead.page or tap the link in the show notes.

Starting point is 00:16:33 Thanks for listening. Back at you tomorrow with a regular episode.

Today in Digital Marketing - Behind the Ad: "1984" by Apple

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