Apple whipsaws from 1984 to the Trump era
Jobs built Apple’s mystique in two ways: creating beautifully designed, groundbreaking products and launching ad campaigns that made people feel that if they used Apple products it would prove they were rebels, free thinkers, and creatives who fought the stultifying status quo and forged their own unique path in the world.
The most well-known Apple ad from that time was the “1984” Super Bowl ad introducing the Macintosh; it showed Big Brother and his brainwashed minions defeated by a beautiful young woman armed only with a sledgehammer. The message was clear: the about-to-be released Mac would free the world from corporate drones and dull, Windows PCs.
Thirteen years later, in 1997, Apple doubled down on the message with its “Think Different” ad campaign; it portrayed groundbreaking rebels who fought the status quo, including Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandi. The message was the same as in 1984: use a Mac to prove that you’re one of the freethinking rebels who can change the world.
