Now and Then... Apple

I’d like to introduce you to the "Now and Then" category of my blog – from time to time I’ll have a look at brands and how their campaigns evolved in time, if the message or maybe the audience have changed.

To kick the new category off with a bang, I am going to start with the famous Apple commercials. Everybody knows them, everybody likes them (I bet even Bill Gates does)!

Here we have the very first Mac ad from 1984 – the allusion to George Orwell's "1984" was first aired during the Super Bowl and was directed by Ridley Scott (yes, THE Ridley Scott):



Can you believe that this ad is from 1984, introducing a new brand? That's what I call taking risks... For comparison reasons I looked up other computer ads from that time and I found a spot for the Commodore 64 – click here to see it. Isn’t it just hilarious? Try to imagine seeing an ad like this on TV now... on the other hand the “1984” spot from Apple would still work for sure, don’t you think?

Now let’s get onto our time machine and fast forward to the year 2006, when the current Get a Mac campaign started. Each of the 30 second spots show a different “battle” between the young, cool Mac against the stiff, uptight PC. Some might say that Mac seems a little bitchy or sniffy, but hey – it’s fun! Plus, you’ll definitely remember the message...

Here's one of my favourites, "Out of the box":


In case you want to see all of them (and I truly do recommend that), click here. The campaign is still running and I hope there are more spots to come.

While we're at it, did you know that Apple produces a special UK version of some spots?

(A little weird though... sorry guys, but I am voting for the US version!)

You see, even more than 25 years ago Apple was already as daring and different as they are now... someone once said "never change a running system" and it seems that this concepts works just fine for them.

As I am a little obsessed with Apple so look forward to more exciting posts on the topic...

Convinced? Get a Mac!