Edited by
Ann-Christine Diaz,
adiaz@creativity-online.com
Creativity-Online.com has all the features of AdCritic.com, plus creative profiles, videos that go
behind the work and regularly updated news. Submit your choices for best ads to Ann-Christine
Diaz, Editor, Creativity, 711 Third Ave., New York, NY10017 or e-mail adiaz@creativity-online.com.
Perhaps no other modern-day marketer has captured the public’s imagination like the late Steve Jobs, whether it be through his products, his inspiring presentations, his flair for hype or
the advertising he signed off on. He was a genius and a showman who knew how to build desire around products that, arguably, would fly off the shelves and bust websites through word-of-mouth alone (see P. 2-3). Nevertheless, the advertising goes down as some of the best in history. Here, we take a look back at some of the ads that helped cultivate the cult of Apple.
Apple‘1984’
The Ridley Scott-directed
spot that launched the
Macintosh personal
computer and also helped
carve out the Super Bowl as
the venue for blockbuster
entertainment in
commercial-size morsels.
‘Silhouettes’
TBWA/Chiat/Day L.A.'s award-winning iPod launch campaign
highlighted the product via
spare, design-minded silhouettes
of dancers against bold colorful
backdrops wearing the device as
they rocked out to bands like Jet
and The Black-Eyed Peas. The
spots are famous not just for
their smart showcasing of the
product, but for also creating pop
hits and launching the careers of
then little-known outfits.
‘Macvs.PC’
Product demo gets personified in this long-running
series of ads starring John Hodgman as the stodgy PC
and Justin Long as the hip-yet-reliable Mac. The
campaign also featured memorable rich-media
takeovers, including one that ran on The New York
Times’ home page in which “PC” climbs a ladder to
staple a “Not” sign to a Wall Street Journal quote singing
the praises of Apple’s Leopard OS.
Apple‘Envelope’
This simple spot stepped aside to let Apple
products do what Apple products do best—speak
for themselves.
‘TheCrazyOnes’
Steve Jobs was not always Apple’s fearless leader. In 1985, after a struggle with the company’s executive board, he
resigned and subsequently launched NeXT, a company that created powerful computer systems for business and
education purposes. Seventeen years later, Apple’s buyout of the company brought Mr. Jobs back into the fold, along
with its former agency, Chiat/Day. Soon after came the launch of one of the company’s most beloved—and famous—
ads, featuring a motley cast of freethinkers, dreamers and big-idea makers, among whom Jobs himself would easily
fit. In 2006, Lee Clow told Creativity of the thinking behind the campaign: “Basically, the simple philosophy was,
‘We’ve got to get back to basics, get back to what Apple stands for, get back to the Apple that had such a passionate
following.’ I think I’m as proud of that as of anything I’ve done in my whole career. I think we found exactly the right
message, exactly the right tone, exactly the right thing to do that could help re-establish the Apple brand.”
