History Advertising / NineteenEightyFour

If you're wondering how the hell this is an ad for a computer, UsefulNotes/SteveJobs put it this way: "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 Creator/GeorgeOrwell right about 1984?"

** One of the major fads of ''Website/{{YTMND}}'' was "Future Conan", which replaced Big Brother with Creator/ConanOBrian mimicking a CymbalBangingMonkey.

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E21FutureStock Future Stock]]" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]]) and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN6eFGGHrXs here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). There are also many Website/YouTube mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure. The trend was probably started by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo this one]], which endorsed UsefulNotes/BarackObama over UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton in the 2008 U.S. election.

** An especially pointed parody was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4 posted]] by Creator/EpicGames, developer of ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', during a 2020 dispute with Creator/{{Apple}} over the latter's App Store policies that led to Apple yanking ''Fortnite'' from the App Store and Epic responding with an antitrust lawsuit. The ad is even titles "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite".

** An especially pointed parody was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4 posted]] by Creator/EpicGames, developer of ''VideoGame/Fortnite'', during a 2020 dispute with Creator/{{Apple}} over the latter's App Store policies that led to Apple yanking ''Fortnite'' from the App Store and Epic responding with an antitrust lawsuit. The ad is even titles "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite".

The iconic commercial that announced the introduction of the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh in 1984. It aired only twice, once on an out-of-the-way local station in Idaho so that it would qualify for 1983 advertising awards and the second time during the telecast of UsefulNotes/SuperBowl XVIII. Directed by Creator/RidleyScott, fresh off of ''Film/BladeRunner'', the commercial has been cited as the turning point for Super Bowl commercials.

* VaporWear: The runner's lack of a bra is, shall we say, amply apparent.

In case you're too lazy to watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfqw8nhUwA a one-minute ad]], the commercial depicts a {{Dystopia}}n universe in which an army of bald drones are marching into a hall where a man on a giant screen, generally understood to be Big Brother, is praising them for their conformity of thought. Meanwhile, a young athletic woman runs into the room, pursued by the apparent SecretPolice, and throws a hammer at the screen. The screen explodes and an announcers says, "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]''."

* WhatWereTheySellingAgain: If you look closely, the woman's tank top has a cubist impression of a Macintosh computer on it. That's the only presence of the product in the ad.

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E21FutureStock Future Stock]]" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]]) and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). There are also many Website/YouTube mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure. The trend was probably started by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo this one]], which endorsed UsefulNotes/BarackObama over UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton in the 2008 U.S. election.

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E21FutureStock Future Stock]]" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]]) and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). There are also many Website/YouTube mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure, most famously [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo this one]] that endorsed UsefulNotes/BarackObama over UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton in the 2008 U.S. election.

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E21FutureStock Future Stock]]" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]]) and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). It's also common to see Website/YouTube mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure, most famously [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo this one]] that endorsed UsefulNotes/BarackObama over UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton in the 2008 U.S. election.

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E21FutureStock Future Stock]]" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]]) and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). It's also common to see mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure, most famously [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo this one]] that endorsed UsefulNotes/BarackObama over UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton in the 2008 U.S. election.

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' in the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E21FutureStock Future Stock]]" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]]) and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). It's also common to see mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure.

Common retrospective opinions of the ad include the idea that Jobs was short-sighted to be worrying about IBM when he should have been worrying about Microsoft, and the contention that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Apple itself has become Big Brother]].

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]]) and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). It's also common to see mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure.

* StockParodies: A common target of this. It's been parodied by ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSt04IPqFfM here]] and in other commercials ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCs4scB5b68 here]]). It's also common to see mashups in which Big Brother is replaced by a hated politician or other public figure.

However, the creators of the ad have said that Big Brother represents something less specific than a powerful industry rival. In this interpretation, Big Brother stands for the idea that technology will be used by the few to dominate the many, and the commercial is saying that Apple's philosophy is that technology, namely personal computers, will instead liberate the individual. For the makers of the commercial, Orwell's novel epitomized the idea of technology being used to control the masses, making the reference to ''1984'' less than incidental.

!!This series provides examples of:

* NoNameGiven: None of the characters in the commercial are named. Due to the explicit Orwell reference, the villain is always referred to as "Big Brother," but he's never actually called that. The female protagonist, who obviously has no counterpart in the Orwell novel, has been variously referred to as "the runner," "the girl," "the heroine," etc.

Common retrospective opinions of the ad include the idea that Jobs was short-sighted to be worrying about IBM when he should have been worrying about Microsoft, and the contention that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Apple itself has become Big Brother]].