Apple Mac: 1984

Today (22/09/2015) has seen a great deal of coverage in the UK concerning the anniversary of the launch in 1955 of commercial TV. Many have commented on "the best advert ever" but no-one has mentioned 1984.

As a UK resident I'm certain I didn't see this advert live - it was only screened once for 60 seconds during the 1984 super bowl (not counting a single late night screening on KMVT (Twin Falls, Idaho)on December 15, 1983 to enable it to qualify for adverting awards consideration). I must have seen it on the news, but without doubt it is the greatest TV advert I have ever seen. Today's news encouraged me to search for a video of the advert and I stumbled across the reviews on IMDb, and was motivated to write this review after reading comments from Thomas.

The advert did screen for a full minute (an additional 30 second slot scheduled for the same event was sold back to the network after a very cold reception of the planned advert from the Apple board). Anja Major (the hammer thrower) went on to star as Nikita the following year In Elton John's video of the same name. Thomas went on to say that the film had not made a lasting impression - yet his review was 31 years after the advert appeared.

The advert "won just about every possible award, including best commercial of the decade" - folklore.org, and after the screening the Apple board welcomed the Macintosh team to a standing ovation.

For me the advert works for a number of reasons - the use of colour to contrast "1984" and the hammer thrower, the fact that for 55 seconds we've no idea what the advert is about, and it was shown once only.

For a single 60 second screening 1984 made a lasting impression!