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{{short description|1983 television commercial by Ridley Scott}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = {{noitalics|"1984"}}
| image = Ad apple 1984.jpg
| caption = Still image from the advertisement
| director = [[Ridley Scott]]
| writer = {{unbulleted list | [[Steve Hayden (copywriter)|Steve Hayden]] (copywriter) | [[Lee Clow]] (creative director) | Brent Thomas (art director) }}
| starring = {{unbulleted list | [[Anya Major]] | [[David Graham (actor)|David Graham]] | [[Edward Grover]] (voiceover)}}
| cinematography = [[Adrian Biddle]]
| editing = Pamela Power
| studio = Fairbanks Films, New York
| distributor = [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer Inc.]]
| released = {{Film date|1983|12|31|local broadcast in Idaho|1984|01|22|only national broadcast}}
| runtime = 1 minute
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = [[#Budget|$370,000 &ndash; $900,000]]
| italic_title = no
}}
"'''1984'''" is an American [[television advertisement|television commercial]] that introduced the [[Macintosh 128K|Apple Macintosh]] personal computer. It was conceived by [[Steve Hayden (copywriter)|Steve Hayden]], Brent Thomas, and [[Lee Clow]] at [[TBWA/Chiat/Day|Chiat/Day]], produced by [[New York City|New York]] [[production company]] Fairbanks Films, and directed by [[Ridley Scott]]. The ad was a [[reference]] to [[George Orwell]]'s noted 1949 novel, ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', which described a [[dystopia]]n future ruled by a televised "Big Brother".<ref name=":0" /> English athlete [[Anya Major]] performed as the unnamed heroine and [[David Graham (actor)|David Graham]] as [[Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Big Brother]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Graham |first1=David |title=David's film appearances |url=http://davidgraham.co/blog/?page_id=14 |website=David Graham Official Site |access-date=28 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822123708/http://davidgraham.co/blog/?page_id=14 |archive-date=August 22, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> In the US, it first aired in 10 local outlets,<ref name="NYT84March">{{cite news| title= The Computer, the Consumer and Privacy| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/04/weekinreview/the-computer-the-consumer-and-privacy.html| date= March 4, 1984| first= David| last= Burnham| location= Washington DC| work= The New York Times| access-date= January 24, 2014| archive-date= April 3, 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150403144334/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/04/weekinreview/the-computer-the-consumer-and-privacy.html| url-status= live}}</ref> including [[Twin Falls, Idaho]], where Chiat/Day ran the ad on December 31, 1983, at the last possible break before midnight on [[KMVT]], so that the advertisement qualified for the 1984 Clio Awards.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dougherty |first1=Philip H. |title=ADVERTISING; Ally & Gargano Prevails At Clio Awards Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/24/business/advertising-ally-gargano-prevails-at-clio-awards-again.html |access-date=10 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=24 May 1984 |archive-date=October 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010155844/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/24/business/advertising-ally-gargano-prevails-at-clio-awards-again.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="floss">{{cite web |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/29911/true-story-apples-1984-ads-first-broadcastbefore-super-bowl |title=The True Story of Apple's '1984' Ad's First Broadcast...Before the Super Bowl |access-date=December 3, 2013 |work=mental_floss |date=February 4, 2012 |archive-date=January 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107034201/http://mentalfloss.com/article/29911/true-story-apples-1984-ads-first-broadcastbefore-super-bowl |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Folklore1984">{{cite web | url=http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=1984.txt | title=1984 | publisher=Folklore.org | date=September 2004 | access-date=2016-02-08 | author=Hertzfeld, Andy | page=73 | archive-date=January 15, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115184456/http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=1984.txt | url-status=live }}</ref> Its second televised airing, and only US national airing, was on January 22, 1984, during a break in the third quarter of the telecast of [[Super Bowl XVIII]] by [[CBS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.duke.edu/~tlove/mac.htm |title=Apple's 1984: The Introduction of the Macintosh in the Cultural History of Personal Computers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991005015117/http://www.duke.edu/~tlove/mac.htm |archive-date=October 5, 1999 |first=Ted |last=Friedman |date=October 1997 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In one interpretation of the commercial, "1984" used the unnamed heroine to represent the coming of the Macintosh (indicated by her white [[Tank top (shirt)|tank top]] with a stylized line drawing of [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]’s [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]] computer on it) as a means of saving humanity from "conformity" ([[Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Big Brother]]).<ref name=cellini>{{cite journal|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb197/is_200401/ai_n5556112 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628133757/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb197/is_200401/ai_n5556112 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-06-28 |title=The Story Behind Apple's '1984' TV commercial: Big Brother at 20 |access-date=May 9, 2008 |last=Cellini |first=Adelia |date=January 2004 |journal=[[MacWorld]] |volume=21 |issue=1 |page=18 }}</ref>

Originally a subject of contention within Apple, it has subsequently been called a watershed event<ref>{{cite news |first= Kevin |last= Maney |url= https://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kevinmaney/2004-01-28-maney_x.htm |title= Apple's '1984' Super Bowl Commercial Still Stands as Watershed Event |work= USA Today |date= January 28, 2004 |access-date= January 22, 2014 |archive-date= April 10, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110410035437/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kevinmaney/2004-01-28-maney_x.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> and a masterpiece<ref name=masterpiece>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/02/02/eye.ent.commercials/ |title=Why 2006 Isn't like '1984' |access-date=May 10, 2008 |last=Leopold |first=Todd |date=February 3, 2006 |work=CNN|archive-date=April 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405133016/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/02/02/eye.ent.commercials/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in advertising. In 1995, the [[Clio Awards]] added it to its Hall of Fame, and ''[[Advertising Age]]'' placed it on the top of its list of 50 greatest commercials.<ref name="nyt1995adage"/>

==Plot==
The commercial opens with a [[dystopia]]n, industrial setting in blue and grayish tones, showing a line of people marching in unison through a long tunnel monitored by a string of [[telescreen]]s. This is in sharp contrast to the full-color shots of the nameless runner ([[Anya Major]]). She looks like a competitive track and field athlete, wearing an athletic outfit (red athletic shorts, running shoes, a white [[Tank top (shirt)|tank top]] with a [[cubist]] picture of Apple's [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]] computer, a white sweat band on her left wrist, and a red one on her right), and is carrying a large brass-headed [[sledgehammer]].<ref>{{cite web |last= Moriarty |first= Sandra |url= http://spot.colorado.edu/~moriarts/viscueing.html |title= An Interpretive Study of Visual Cues in Advertising |publisher= [[University of Colorado System|University of Colorado]] |access-date= January 22, 2014 |archive-date= January 4, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170104165024/http://spot.colorado.edu/~moriarts/viscueing.html |url-status= live }}</ref> Rows of marching minions evoke the opening scenes of ''[[Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis]]''.
[[File:Ad apple 1984 2.png|right|thumb|[[Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Big Brother]] ([[David Graham (actor)|David Graham]]) speaking to his audience]]
As she is chased by four police officers (presumably agents of the [[Thought Police]]) wearing black uniforms, protected by [[Riot control|riot gear]], helmets with [[Face shield#Police|visors]] covering their faces, and armed with large [[Club (weapon)|night sticks]], she races towards a large screen with the image of a [[Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Big Brother]]-like figure ([[David Graham (actor)|David Graham]], also seen on the telescreens earlier) giving a speech:

{{blockquote|Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology—where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests of any contradictory thoughts. Our Unification of Thoughts 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, and we will bury them with their own confusion. We ''shall'' prevail!}}

The runner, now close to the screen, hurls the hammer towards it, right at the moment Big Brother announces, "we shall prevail!" In a flurry of light and smoke, the screen is destroyed, leaving the audience in shock.

The commercial concludes with a portentous voiceover by actor [[Edward Grover]], accompanied by scrolling black text (in Apple's early signature [[Apple Garamond|Garamond]] typeface); the hazy, whitish-blue aftermath of the cataclysmic event serves as the background. It reads:{{blockquote|On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like "1984".}}

The screen fades to black as the voiceover ends, and the rainbow Apple logo appears.

==Production==

===Development===
[[File:NASA Journey to Mars and “The Martian" (201508180003HQ).jpg|thumb|right|Director [[Ridley Scott]] was hired to direct the 1984 commercial.]]
The commercial was created by the advertising agency [[TBWA/Chiat/Day|Chiat/Day]], of [[Venice, Los Angeles, California|Venice]], California, with copy by [[Steve Hayden (copywriter)|Steve Hayden]],<ref name=npr>{{cite web |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1627800 |title=A Look Back at Apple's Super Ad |access-date=March 18, 2011 |last=Hansen |first=Liane |author-link= Liane Hansen |date=February 1, 2004 |work= [[Weekend Edition Sunday]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110203045402/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1627800| archive-date= February 3, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> art direction by Brent Thomas, and creative direction by [[Lee Clow]].<ref name=clow>{{cite web |url=http://www.ciadvertising.org/SA/fall_02/adv382j/qwkag/assign2/master.htm |title=Lee Clow: His Masterpiece |access-date=May 10, 2008 |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162049/http://www.ciadvertising.org/SA/fall_02/adv382j/qwkag/assign2/master.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The commercial "grew out of an abandoned print campaign" with a specific theme:<ref name="NYT84March"/>
{{blockquote|"[T]here are monster computers lurking in [[big business]] and [[big government]] that know everything from what motels you've stayed at to how much money you have in the bank. But at Apple we're trying to balance the scales by giving individuals the kind of computer power once reserved for corporations."}}
{{anchor|Budget}}
[[Ridley Scott]] (whose dystopian sci-fi film ''[[Blade Runner]]'' had been released one and a half years prior) was hired by agency producer Richard O'Neill to direct it. Less than two months after the Super Bowl airing, ''The New York Times'' reported that Scott "filmed it in England for about $370,000";<ref name="NYT84March"/> In 2005 writer Ted Friedman said the commercial had a then-"unheard-of production budget of $900,000."<ref name=friedman>{{Cite book |chapter-url=http://tedfriedman.com/electric-dreams/chapter-5-apples-1984/ |title=Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture |chapter=Chapter 5: 1984 |access-date=October 6, 2011 |last=Friedman |first=Ted |year=2005 |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8147-2740-9 |archive-date=January 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109061041/https://tedfriedman.com/electric-dreams/chapter-5-apples-1984/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The actors who appeared in the commercial were paid $25 per day.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://adage.com/article/special-report-4as-conference/clow-hayden-reminisce-making-apple-s-1984/233775/ |title= Clow and Hayden Reminisce about Making Apple's '1984' |first= Rupal |last= Parekh |work= Advertising Age |date= March 29, 2012 |access-date= March 29, 2012 |archive-date= February 24, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150224063616/http://adage.com/article/special-report-4as-conference/clow-hayden-reminisce-making-apple-s-1984/233775/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Scott later admitted that he accepted brutal budget constraints because he believed in the ad's concept, outlining how the total cost was less than $250,000 and that he used local [[skinhead]]s to portray the broken, pale "drones" in the commercial.<ref name=nyt2024>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/09/arts/television/super-bowl-apple-1984-ad.html|title=40 Years Ago, This Ad Changed the Super Bowl Forever|author=Saul Austerlitz|date=February 9, 2024|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref>

[[Steve Jobs]] and [[John Sculley]] were so enthusiastic about the final product that they "...purchased one and a half minutes of ad time for the Super Bowl, annually the most-watched television program in America. In December 1983 they screened the commercial for the Apple Board of Directors. To Jobs' and Sculley's surprise, the entire board hated the commercial."<ref name=friedman/><ref name="hayden">{{cite news |url= http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i543ab57159cb298a4d8c4c408b7a539d |title= '1984': As Good as It Gets |first= Steve |last= Hayden |work= [[Adweek]] |date= January 30, 2011 |access-date=March 18, 2011 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110201011651/http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i543ab57159cb298a4d8c4c408b7a539d| archive-date= February 1, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref>{{r|dvorak19840227}} However, Sculley himself got "cold feet" and asked Chiat/Day to sell off the two commercial spots.<ref>{{cite book |last= Isaacson |first= Walter |author-link= Walter Isaacson |title= Steve Jobs |publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn= 978-1-4516-4853-9|year=2011|title-link= Steve Jobs (book) }}{{page needed|date=January 2014}}</ref>

Despite the board's dislike of the film, [[Steve Wozniak]] and others at Apple showed copies to friends, and he offered to pay for half of the spot personally if Jobs paid the other half.<ref name="dvorak19840227">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gy4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA112 | title=Apple's stagnation | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-02-27 | access-date=18 January 2015 | author=Dvorak, John C. | page=112 | archive-date=September 14, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914175556/https://books.google.com/books?id=gy4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA112 | url-status=live }}</ref> This turned out to be unnecessary. Of the original ninety seconds booked, Chiat/Day resold thirty seconds to another advertiser, then claimed they could not sell the other 60 seconds, when in fact they did not even try.<ref>{{cite book |title= Steve Jobs |year= 2011 |publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn= 978-1-4516-4853-9 |first= Walter |last= Isaacson |page= [https://archive.org/details/stevejobs00isaa/page/164 164] |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/stevejobs00isaa/page/164 }}</ref>

==={{anchor|Interpretation}}Intended message===
In his 1983 Apple [[keynote address]], Steve Jobs read the following story before showcasing a preview of the commercial:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiQA6KKyJo | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618210409/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiQA6KKyJo| archive-date=2006-06-18 | url-status=dead|title=1983 Apple Keynote: The "1984" Ad Introduction |publisher= [[YouTube]] |date= April 1, 2006 |access-date=January 22, 2014}}</ref>

{{blockquote|"[...] It is now 1984. It appears IBM wants it all. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run for its money. Dealers initially welcoming IBM with open arms now fear an IBM dominated and controlled future. They are increasingly turning back to Apple as the only force that can ensure their future freedom. IBM wants it all and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple. Will ''Big Blue'' dominate the entire computer industry? The entire information age? Was George Orwell right about 1984?"}}

In March 1984 Michael Tyler, a communications expert quoted by ''The New York Times'', said "The Apple ad expresses a potential of small computers. This potential may not automatically flow from the company's product. But if enough people held a shared intent, [[grass-roots]] [[electronic bulletin board]]s (through which computer users share messages) might result in better balancing of political power."<ref name="NYT84March"/>

In 2004, Adelia Cellini writing for ''[[Macworld]]'', summarized the message:<ref name=cellini/>
{{blockquote|"Let's see—an all-powerful entity blathering on about Unification of Thoughts to an army of soulless drones, only to be brought down by a plucky, Apple-esque underdog. So Big Brother, the villain from Apple's '1984' Mac ad, represented [[IBM]], right? According to the ad's creators, that's not exactly the case. The original concept was to show the fight for the control of computer technology as a struggle of the few against the many, says TBWA/Chiat/Day's [[Lee Clow]]. Apple wanted the Mac to symbolize the idea of empowerment, with the ad showcasing the Mac as a tool for combating conformity and asserting originality. What better way to do that than have a striking blonde athlete take a sledgehammer to the face of that ultimate symbol of conformity, Big Brother?"}}

==Reception and legacy==
[[Image:Macintosh 128k transparency.png|thumb|The first Macintosh (1984), the [[Macintosh 128K]]]]

Art director Brent Thomas said Apple "had wanted something to 'stop America in its tracks, to make people think about computers, to make them think about Macintosh.' With about $3.5 million worth of Macintoshes sold just after the advertisement ran, Thomas judged the effort 'absolutely successful.' 'We also set out to smash the old [[wikt:canard|canard]] that the computer will enslave us,' he said. 'We did not say the computer will set us free&mdash;I have no idea how it will work out. This was strictly a marketing position.'"<ref name="NYT84March"/>

The estate of George Orwell and the television rightsholder to the novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' considered the commercial to be a copyright infringement and sent a [[cease-and-desist]] letter to Apple and Chiat/Day in April 1984.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |url= http://www.dartmouthlawjournal.org/articles/106-115.pdf |title= 'Big Brother' is Watching Apple: The Truth About the Super Bowl's Most Famous Ad |first= William R. |last= Coulson |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110725220353/http://www.dartmouthlawjournal.org/articles/106-115.pdf |archive-date= July 25, 2011 |journal= [[Dartmouth Law Journal]] |volume= 7 |issue= 1 |pages= 106–115 |date= Winter 2009 | access-date=January 22, 2014}}</ref>

===Awards===
*1984: [[Clio Awards]]
*1984: 31st [[Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival]]—''Grand Prix''<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/26/business/advertising-chiat-wins-at-cannes-for-1984-apple-spot.html?pagewanted=print |title= Advertising; Chiat Wins at Cannes For '1984' Apple Spot |first= Philip H. |last= Dougherty |work= The New York Times |date= June 26, 1984 |access-date= May 9, 2008 <!--DASHBot--> |archive-date= July 27, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180727121026/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/26/business/advertising-chiat-wins-at-cannes-for-1984-apple-spot.html?pagewanted=print |url-status= live }}</ref>
*1995: Clio Awards—''Hall of Fame''
*1995: ''[[Advertising Age]]''—''Greatest Commercial''<ref name="nyt1995adage">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/14/business/media-business-advertising-new-ranking-50-best-television-commercials-ever-made.html|title=The Media Business: Advertising; A new ranking of the '50 best' television commercials ever made|first=Stuart|last=Elliott|work=The New York Times|date=March 14, 1995|access-date=January 22, 2014|quote=The choice for the greatest commercial ever was the spectacular spot by Chiat/Day, evocative of the George Orwell novel ''1984'', that introduced the Apple Macintosh computer during Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.|archive-date=January 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127003942/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/14/business/media-business-advertising-new-ranking-50-best-television-commercials-ever-made.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
*1999: ''[[TV Guide]]''—''Number One Greatest Commercial of All Time''<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.macobserver.com/news/99/june/990629/tvguide1984.html |title=TV Guide Names Apple's "1984" Commercial As No. 1 All-Time Commercial! |work=The Mac Observer |access-date=May 10, 2008  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608065108/http://www.macobserver.com/news/99/june/990629/tvguide1984.html |date=June 1999 |archive-date=June 8, 2008 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref>
*2003: [[World Federation of Advertisers|WFA]]—''Hall of Fame Award'' (''Jubilee Golden Award'')
*2007: ''Best Super Bowl Spot'' (in the game's 40-year history)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/25992.html |title=Apple's '1984' Named Best Super Bowl Spot |work=EarthTimes |access-date=May 10, 2008}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

It ranked at number 38 in [[Channel 4]]'s 2000 list of the "[[100 Greatest (UK TV series)|100 Greatest]] TV Ads".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uktvadverts.com/facts/?list=ch4 |title=Fun Facts |publisher=UK TV Adverts |access-date=2016-02-08 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090819/http://www.uktvadverts.com/facts/?list=ch4 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Social impact===
Ted Friedman, in his 2005 text, ''Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture'', notes the impact of the commercial:

:Super Bowl viewers were overwhelmed by the startling ad. The ad garnered millions of dollars worth of free publicity, as news programs rebroadcast it that night. It was quickly hailed by many in the advertising industry as a masterwork. ''[[Advertising Age]]'' named it the 1980s ''Commercial of the Decade'', and it continues to rank high on lists of the most influential commercials of all time [...] '1984' was never broadcast again, adding to its mystique.<ref name=friedman/>

The "1984" ad became a signature representation of [[Apple computers]]. It was scripted as a thematic element in the 1999 [[docudrama]], ''[[Pirates of Silicon Valley]]'', which explores the rise of Apple and [[Microsoft]] (the film opens and closes with references to the commercial, including a re-enactment of the heroine running towards the screen of ''Big Brother'' and clips of the original commercial).<ref>{{cite web| title= Review of ''Pirates of Silicon Valley'' Movie |url= http://www.dotjournal.com/review-pirates-silicon-valley-movie | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061107170215/http://www.dotjournal.com/review-pirates-silicon-valley-movie | archive-date= November 7, 2006 |date= October 29, 2006| publisher= DotJournal.com | first= Patrick|last= Grote| access-date= January 24, 2014}}</ref>

The commercial was also prominent in the 20th anniversary celebration of the Macintosh in 2004, as Apple reposted a new version of the ad on its website and showed it during Jobs's Keynote Address at [[Macworld/iWorld|Macworld Expo]] in San Francisco, California. In this updated version, an [[iPod]], complete with signature white earbuds, was digitally added to the heroine. Keynote Attendees were given a poster showing the heroine with an iPod as a commemorative gift.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/01/23/the_apple_mac |title= The Apple Mac Is 20 |first= Tony |last= Smith |work= The Register |date= January 23, 2004 |access-date= April 1, 2011 <!--DASHBot--> |archive-date= November 27, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101127060306/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/01/23/the_apple_mac/ |url-status= live }}</ref> And the ad has also been cited as the turning point for Super Bowl commercials, which had been important and popular before (especially [[Coca-Cola]]'s "[[Hey Kid, Catch!]]" featuring [[Joe Greene|"Mean" Joe Greene]] during [[Super Bowl XIV]]) but after "1984" those ads became the most expensive, creative and influential advertising set for all television coverage.

Revisiting the commercial in ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' thirty years after it aired, social critic [[Rebecca Solnit]] suggested that "1984" did not so much herald a new era of liberation as a new era of oppression. In the December 2014 issue of the magazine, she wrote:
{{blockquote|I want to yell at that liberatory young woman with her sledgehammer: "Don't do it!" Apple is not different. That industry is going to give rise to innumerable forms of triviality and misogyny, to the concentration of wealth and the dispersal of mental concentration. To suicidal, underpaid Chinese factory workers whose reality must be like that of the shuffling workers in the commercial. If you think a crowd of people staring at one screen is bad, wait until you have created a world in which billions of people stare at their own screens even while walking, driving, eating in the company of friends—all of them eternally elsewhere."<ref>Solnit, Rebecca (December 2014) "Poison Apples." ''Harper's.'' Page 5.</ref>}}

Media archivist (and early Apple supporter) [[Marion Stokes]] recorded the Super Bowl broadcast featuring the legendary ad, which was then featured in the 2019 [[documentary film]] ''[[Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project]]''.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/BAVC1004566_SuperBowl8412284_prores BAVC1004566_SuperBowl8412284_prores - Internet Archive]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-let-the-record-show |title=Let The Record Show{{!}}On the Media{{!}}WNYC Studios |access-date=April 5, 2021 |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313095406/https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-let-the-record-show |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/most-radical-tv-news-archive |title=A Most Radical TV News Archive{{!}}On the Media{{!}}WNYC Studios |access-date=April 5, 2021 |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420215657/https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/most-radical-tv-news-archive |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Parodies===
In 2001, the ''[[Futurama]]'' season 3 episode "[[Future Stock]]" parodies the advert as a Planet Express advert challenging the all-powerful "MomCorp". In the advert a Planet Express employee throws a delivery package into the telescreen showing Mom - however in contrast to the original advert, after the screen is smashed an annoyed prole turns to the employee and shouts "Hey - we were watching that!"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cultofmac.com/news/5-more-times-apples-iconic-1984-ad-was-mocked|title=Fortnite wasn’t first: 5 more times Apple’s iconic ‘1984’ ad was mocked|last=Dormehl|first=Luke|date=14 August 2020|work=Cult of Mac|access-date=17 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2005-11-16-futuramas-1984-ad-parody-on-mactv.html|title=Futurama's 1984 ad parody on macTV|last=Caolo|first=Dave|date=17 November 2005|access-date=17 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.techeblog.com/video-futurama-spoofs-1984-apple-commercial/|title=(Video) Futurama Spoofs 1984 Apple Commercial|last=Chung|first=Jackson|work=TechEBlog|access-date=17 January 2025}}</ref>

In March 2007, the advertisement attracted attention again when ''[[Hillary 1984]]'', a [[Mashup (video)|video mashup]] of the original commercial with footage of [[Hillary Clinton]] used in place of Big Brother, [[Viral video|went viral]] in the early stages of the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008|campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination]]. The video was produced in support of [[Barack Obama]] by Phil de Vellis, an employee of [[Blue State Digital]], but was made without the knowledge of either [[Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign|Obama's campaign]] or his own employer. De Vellis stated that he made the video in one afternoon at home using a Mac and some software. Political commentators including [[Carla Marinucci]] and [[Arianna Huffington]], as well as de Vellis himself, suggested that the video demonstrated the way technology had created new opportunities for individuals to make an impact on politics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Political-video-smackdown-Hillary-1984-2609651.php |title=Political video smackdown / 'Hillary 1984': Unauthorized Internet ad for Obama converts Apple Computer's '84 Super Bowl spot into a generational howl against Clinton's presidential bid |last=Marinucci |first=Carla |author-link=Carla Marinucci |date=18 March 2007 |website=[[SFgate.com]] |access-date=11 November 2018 |archive-date=November 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112021722/https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Political-video-smackdown-Hillary-1984-2609651.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/who-created-hillary-1984-_b_43978.html?guccounter=1|title=Who Created "Hillary 1984"? Mystery Solved!|last=Huffington|first=Arianna|date=21 March 2007|website=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=11 November 2018|archive-date=September 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914175558/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/who-created-hillary-1984_b_43978?guccounter=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/i-made-the-vote-different_b_43989 |title=I Made the "Vote Different" Ad |last=de Vellis |first=Phil |date=21 March 2007 |website=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=11 November 2018 |archive-date=December 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214174818/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/i-made-the-vote-different_b_43989 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The 2008 ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[MyPods and Boomsticks]]" parodies the ad. In it, [[Comic Book Guy]] throws a sledgehammer at a giant screen that displays the CEO "Steve Mobs".<ref name="ign">{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/01/the-simpsons-mypods-and-boomsticks-review|title=The Simpsons: "Mypods and Boomsticks" Review |last=Canning |first=Robert |date=2008-12-01 |publisher=[[IGN]] |access-date=2022-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205025728/http://tv.ign.com/articles/934/934359p1.html |archive-date=December 5, 2008 }}</ref><ref name="ult">{{cite book |title=Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 |publisher=[[HarperCollins|Harper Collins Publishers]] |year=2010 |editor=Bates, James W. |editor2=Gimple, Scott M. |editor3=McCann, Jesse L. |editor4=Richmond, Ray |editor5=Seghers, Christine |isbn=978-0-00-738815-8 |edition=1st |pages=972–973|title-link=Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 }}</ref>

In May 2010, [[Valve Corporation|Valve]] released a short video announcing the release of ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' on OS X featuring a recreation of the original commercial, with the people replaced with City 17's citizens, Big Brother with a speech from [[Wallace Breen]], the agents of the Thought Police with [[Combine (Half-Life)|Combine]] Soldiers, and the nameless runner with [[Alyx Vance]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Golijan |first1=Rosa |title=Valve Parodies Apple's "1984" Commercial |url=https://gizmodo.com/valve-parodies-apples-1984-commercial-5547636 |website=Gizmodo |date=May 25, 2010 |access-date=13 July 2019 |archive-date=July 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713221948/https://gizmodo.com/valve-parodies-apples-1984-commercial-5547636 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is Valve's only official Half-Life 2 [[Source Filmmaker|SFM]].

In the 2016 ''The Simpsons'' episode "[[The Last Traction Hero]]", [[Lisa Simpson]] is a [[bus monitor]] and fantasizes about being on a big screen controlling the bus children with [[Bart Simpson]] as the runner with the hammer.<ref name="Malone">{{cite web |last1=Malone |first1=Jeffrey |title=Review: The Simpsons "The Last Traction Hero" |url=https://www.bubbleblabber.com/review-the-simpsons-the-last-traction-hero/ |website=Bubbleblabber |access-date=20 February 2023 |language=en |date=5 December 2016}}</ref>

On August 13, 2020, Apple removed ''[[Fortnite]]'' from the [[App Store (iOS)|App Store]] after [[Epic Games]] introduced a direct payment option that circumvented Apple's 30% revenue cut policy, violating [[Terms of service|terms of service policies]]. In response, Epic [[Epic Games v. Apple|filed a lawsuit against Apple]], and created a parody of the "1984" ad called "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-13|title=Fortnite's petty shot in Apple war|url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/gaming/fortnite-maker-sues-apple-over-app-restrictions/news-story/e2f647eb93dbf90270fddca70e67f128|access-date=2020-08-19|website=NewsComAu|language=en|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819211306/https://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/gaming/fortnite-maker-sues-apple-over-app-restrictions/news-story/e2f647eb93dbf90270fddca70e67f128|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Gartenberg|first=Chaim|date=2020-08-13|title=Epic will mock Apple's most iconic ad as possible revenge for Fortnite's App Store ban|url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/13/21367904/epic-parody-apple-1984-ad-fortnite-removal-app-store|access-date=2020-08-19|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=August 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817095219/https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/13/21367904/epic-parody-apple-1984-ad-fortnite-removal-app-store|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2024 [[Pixar]] animated film ''[[Inside Out 2]]'' contains a loose [[parody]] of the ad, in which the character [[Joy (Inside Out)|Joy]] riles up the Mind Workers to rebel against Anxiety; one worker throws a chair at the giant screen Anxiety uses to monitor their work.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dubiel |first=Bill |date=2024-06-14 |title=Inside Out 2's 21 Easter Eggs & Pixar References Explained |url=https://screenrant.com/inside-out-2-easter-eggs-references-explained/ |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|1980s}}
*[[Lemmings (advertisement)|''Lemmings'' (advertisement)]], the follow-up advert
*[[Think Different]], an Apple advertising slogan
*[[Get a Mac]], television advertising campaign
*[[List of Super Bowl commercials]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite web |author-link= Lee Clow |last= Clow |first= Lee |url= http://www.ciadvertising.org/SA/fall_02/adv382j/qwkag/assign2/master.htm |title= Lee Clow: His Masterpiece—1984 |publisher= Chiat/Day |access-date= September 9, 2004 |archive-date= September 11, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162049/http://www.ciadvertising.org/SA/fall_02/adv382j/qwkag/assign2/master.htm |url-status= live }}
*{{cite book |last= Friedman |first= Ted |chapter-url= http://www.tedfriedman.com/electricdreams/2005/02/apples_1984.php |chapter= Chapter Five: Apple's 1984 |title= Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture |location= New York |publisher= NYU Press |year= 2005 |pages= 100–120 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080905231935/http://www.tedfriedman.com/electricdreams/2005/02/apples_1984.php |archive-date= September 5, 2008 |df= mdy-all }}
*{{cite news |author-link= Theodore Roszak (scholar) |last= Roszak |first= Theodore |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-28-oe-roszak28-story.html |title= Raging Against the Machine: In its '1984' Commercial, Apple Suggested that Its Computers Would Smash Big Brother, But Technology Gave Him More Control |work= [[Los Angeles Times]] |date= January 28, 2004 |access-date= December 26, 2008 |archive-date= February 7, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110207215330/http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jan/28/opinion/oe-roszak28 |url-status= live }}
*{{cite journal |last= Scott |first= Linda |author-link=Linda M. Scott |title= For the Rest of Us: A Reader-Oriented Interpretation of Apple's '1984' Commercial |journal= [[The Journal of Popular Culture]] |year= 1991 |volume= 25 |issue= 1 |pages= 67–81 |doi=10.1111/j.0022-3840.1991.2501_67.x |s2cid= 142199525 }}
*{{cite news |last= St. John |first= Allen |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2014/01/31/12-lessons-in-creativity-from-the-greatest-super-bowl-ad-ever/ |title= 12 Lessons In Creativity From The Greatest Super Bowl Ad Ever |work= [[Forbes]] |date= January 13, 2014 |access-date= August 23, 2017 |archive-date= October 17, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171017065356/https://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2014/01/31/12-lessons-in-creativity-from-the-greatest-super-bowl-ad-ever/ |url-status= live }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|4227346}}

{{Nineteen Eighty-Four}}
{{Steve Jobs}}
{{Apple}}
{{Ridley Scott}}
{{Super Bowl commercials}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1984 (Advertisement)}}
[[Category:Super Bowl commercials]]
[[Category:American television commercials]]
[[Category:1980s television commercials]]
[[Category:Apple Inc. advertising]]
[[Category:Films based on Nineteen Eighty-Four]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ridley Scott]]
[[Category:History of computing]]
[[Category:1983 television films]]
[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:1983 short films]]
[[Category:1984 in American television]]
[[Category:Television shows based on works by George Orwell]]