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Kelly Xiang
Professor Bedell
CAS 137H
3 October 2014
Deconstructing the 1984 Apple Macintosh Ad
Considered as one of the greatest advertisements of all time, Apples 1984 aired during
the Superbowl to critical acclaim. Why was this commercial so successful both to the average
Joe and the panel of judges in Cannes? 1984 effectively utilizes commonplaces, characters,
and stylistic choices to assuage consumer fears while also persuading them to purchase the
product.
Apples 1984 makes a clear connection to the Orwellian novel of the same name to
play on fears that an American audience had at the time. What terrified Americans about 1984
was the notion of a totalitarian state, and the novels communist references jarred with American
commonplaces of freedom and individuality. In a similar vein, in the real time period of 1984,
privacy was a major issue because Americans found out that the IRS and FBI were using
technology to collect data on citizens who may or may not be breaking the law (Burnham). This
ad evokes pathos from the American audience by playing on their fears of both the actions of the
US government at the time and the fictional society in the novel that the commercial references.
Understanding the context of the commercial, the implication that Apple products could help
prevent this kind of unfree, un-American society becomes clear. Although it is not obvious in
this ad, the implication found in Apples print ads at the time suggested that Apple would give
power to the people by letting them have computers that were not previously accessible to the
general public. When the narrator at the end says youll see why 1984 wont be like 1984, he

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suggests that Apple is for the people and coming to the rescue to prevent the American
government from becoming like the one found in the novel.
Before Macintosh can save the day, the commercial uses similar grey male characters to
set the foreboding mood. In order to portray a dystopia like the one found in 1984, the characters
are stripped of all individuality and arranged in orderly rows as they sit watching the Big
Brother stand-in on the screen. The man on the screen was not only an allusion to Big Brother;
at the time, Apple was losing badly to IBM, so the talking man was associated with Apples
biggest competitor. IBM or Big Blue is portrayed as not being for the people like Apple is.
This plays on the commonplace that America is an underdog story, and IBM had roughly 95% of
the market at the time. Thus, Apple paints Big Blue as large, powerful, and tyrannical, which
associates them with Big Brother and the oppressive state, and Apple is the maverick looking to
take both of them down (Higgins). Also, the American vs non-American voice; the audience
would trust the soothing American voice rather than the one that sounds like a Bond villain. The
hero of the story is clearly set apart from everyone else; she is the only woman and the only one
wearing any color. She is dressed athletically which associates with the American love of sports
and competitive spirit, whereas the men chasing her are wearing uniforms close to the ones
SWAT teams wear. From this, it becomes clear that she is representative of what the American
public could do with the computing power offered by Macintosh, and the men in the SWAT
uniforms is the US government closing in one the American people. The ad relies on logos here
because it makes the argument that access to the best possible computers is how we can reclaim
our power and fight back against the government that is controlling us with its own technology.
Characters are symbolic and give this ad many layers as opposed to other commercials that relied
on celebrity endorsement or gimmicks (Potts and Smith).

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Many stylistic choices are made to emphasize the terrible world without Macintosh. The
lighting is very dark and only when the woman throws the hammer into the screen does the scene
flood with light. Although Apple uses trendy music today, this commercial uses faint horn calls,
reminiscent of the armed forces, along with copious amounts of white noise to allow the sound
effects from the actions shine through while also creating an atmosphere of this cold, technologic
future. A commonplace is used; computers and technology in general are thought of as cold, and
in 1984, Americans were not as acquainted with technology as we are today. The dimness and
ambient sound rely on the pathos of creating an aura of anxiety. Since there is background noise
rather than music with a melody, the marching footsteps, the swinging of the hammer, the eerie
voice, and the explosion of the screen are noticeable to the audience. Additionally, it is a trope in
movies that Brits make better villains and a connection to the fact that 1984 is set in what
becomes of Great Britain that the eerie screen voice has a British accent while the calming voice
at the end sounds all-American.
The commercial is an allusion to the famous novel by George Orwell, yet it also can
easily be seen as a diss to IBM. Twenty years have passed since this ad made its Superbowl
debut, and its aftermath and impact is gossamer clear when examined in retrospect. Apple sold
$3.5 million (approximately $8 million adjusted for inflation) in MacIntosh computers
immediately following the ad, and the commercial itself won the Grand Prix at Cannes
International Advertising Film Festival along with many other awards (Burnham and Doherty).
1984 is still considered one of the greatest ads ever created (Smith). Due to its use of
commonplaces, characters, and stylistic choices, Apples 1984 successfully plays on the fears
of Americans in that time period by convincing them that the best way to fight governments use
of big computers is to buy computers themselves.

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Works Cited
Burnham, David. "THE COMPUTER, THE CONSUMER AND PRIVACY." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 03 Mar. 1984. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
Dougherty, Philip H. "; Chiat Wins at Cannes For '1984' Apple Spot." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 25 June 1984. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
Higgins, Chris. "How Apple's '1984' Ad Was Almost Canceled." Mental Floss. N.p.,
2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.
Potts, Kimberly. "5 Things You Didn't Know About Apple's '1984' Super Bowl Ad (Like How It
Almost Didn't Air)." Yahoo TV. Yahoo, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
Smith, Jacquelyn. "Experts and Viewers Agree: Apple's '1984' Is The Best Super Bowl Ad Of
All Time." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.