The Revolutionary Impact of Apple’s ‘1984’ Super Bowl Ad: 40 Years Later
Once upon a time, believe it or not, no one particularly looked forward to Super Bowl ads. That all changed when Washington faced Los Angeles on Jan. 22, 1984, in Tampa, Fla. Those who tuned in to the big game on CBS — and hadn’t fled to the kitchen for snacks — found themselves watching something completely different.
In between ads for Gillette Foamy Gel and Northwestern Mutual insurance, a dystopian scene appeared on their TV sets: A line of men wearing faded gray apparel marched mindlessly into a theater, where a bespectacled face, “Big Brother,” addressed them on a massive screen.
Extolling the virtues of groupthink, Big Brother celebrated an imminent victory, free from “pests of any contradictory true thoughts.”
Then, the camera cut to a striking blond athlete running in slow motion.
Wearing a white tank top and red shorts — and played by British discus thrower and actress Anya Rajah (then Anya Major) — she strode into the theater, with guards in close pursuit. She spun and, with a shout, hurled a sledgehammer at Big Brother’s face. As the screen exploded, large text appeared along with a voice narrating, “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”
Happy 40th to one of the greatest ads, Super Bowl or otherwise, of all time.
Created by the ad agency Chiat/Day and Apple (AAPL), “1984” elevated Super Bowl ads to a whole new level. Today, tech historians, ad pros, and techies alike all look back at the commercial not only as a seminal moment in the democratization of personal computing and Super Bowl advertisements, but as a work of art containing themes that still resonate today.
“It marked the first time that the commercials in the Super Bowl were going to be something else to watch besides the game itself. This marked the moment,” said Rob Schwartz, an advertising industry leader who ran Chiat/Day from January 2015 to April 2021.
“It was the first time where the audience went, ‘Wait, wait, wait, don’t go to the bathroom. Let’s stay and watch a few commercials before the game comes back.'”
But Apple, the Super Bowl aside, was in need of a boost.
IBM = Big Brother?
In the early 1980s, the company had established itself as a promising tech business with products like the Apple II. In an attempt to make personal computers more accessible, it had then developed the Lisa, named after Steve Jobs’ daughter. Though innovative, the computer had sold poorly, especially compared to IBM’s (IBM) PC, which was released in 1981. Meanwhile, Apple had begun working on the Macintosh, which was meant to accelerate the adoption of the personal computer by the masses.
“Apple came into 1984 being walloped by IBM in the personal computing market, and needing a new big hit … the company had bet it all on the Macintosh, spending huge on its R&D, building a new state-of-the-art factory for it,” said Margaret O’Mara, the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt chair of American History at the University of Washington.
But then arose the question of how to advertise the revolutionary new product. Steve Hayden, a copywriter at Chiat/Day, still remembers receiving the assignment from Steve Jobs directly. The young tech visionary reportedly wanted to “stop the world in its tracks” and entrusted the L.A.-based firm with the job.
Along with art director Brent Thomas, Hayden began brainstorming. He found an old ad concept with the headline “Why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984,’” a line Hayden attributed to fellow Chiat/Day copywriter Gary Gussick. The ad’s director, Ridley Scott, had a better idea.
“He came and looked at our initial board … he brought in this wonderful coffee table book about the making of Metropolis, the movie, and the dramatic huge machines and the interface between humans and these kinds of overwhelming technologies,” Hayden explained. “And so the art direction took a really sharp turn at that point to meet that vision.”
The advertising experts had already come up with the Big Brother character and Scott insisted that they introduce another, a heroine who would contrast starkly with the all-male cast and “break the spell,” Hayden said.
The heroine symbolized more than simple rebellion against Big Brother. As historian O’Mara pointed out, the ad aired during the height of the Cold War and year of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I think it’s telling that she’s dressed as a track athlete and dressed as if she’s running for the United States,” she said.
The heroine also represented