Apple - 1984 (1984) - 0:60 (USA)

Trivia: No matter what advertising myth you've heard, this ad ran more than once.
The first airing was December 31, 1983 and then during the super bowl on January 22, 1984.

Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles
Executive Creative Director: Lee Clow
Director: Ridley Scott
Editor: Pam Powers

Your rating: None Average: 4.1 (33 votes)
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Submitted by fritzworth on 20. December 2004 - 7:14.
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Still possibly the finest TV ad ever produced and aired. (And aired only once.)

Submitted by claymore on 20. December 2004 - 16:18.
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Fritzworth, you silly goose. The "aired only once" thing is an advertising urban myth.

Apple aired it on local televisions during December 1983 in order to qualify for various advertising festivals. - from Mac Observer and various other places.

And then, of course, there's the issue of the 2004 20th Anniversary version of the spot with the iPod.

Submitted by savagecustom on 16. March 2005 - 2:24.
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I say who cares if aired once or a hundred times, it got my attention this ad is a great example of timelessness in adveretising

Submitted by tod.brody on 1. January 2008 - 11:29.
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Interestingly enough, one ad that really was a "one-show," although not intended to be that way, was the 1964 "Daisy” spot, which suggested that Barry Goldwater’s election would lead to nuclear war. It only aired on television once, and then got intense media attention, airing over and over on all three network's nightly news shows as well as the Sunday morning shows, which enabled President Johnson to gain all the intended effects of the ad without any media buy. Good work, DDB!

And in retrospectives, it's probably one of the most broadcast political spots ever, right up there with Bush41's Willie Horton ad.

Submitted by hunter.blatherer on 8. February 2010 - 7:29.
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"which enabled President Johnson to gain all the intended effects of the ad without any media buy."

This seemed to be the goal of the most effective ads in 2006/2008. We'll see how it works now that it's corporate-owned though.

Submitted by Mets82 on 30. December 2007 - 5:27.
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This was just a great commercial. I really didn't understand the whole 1984 concept because I never read the book. The importance of this spot is amazing because this spot made you look at SuperBowl Commercials in a different light.

Submitted by lulurox on 20. April 2009 - 8:04.
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I remember that this was the first time that I watched a super bowl..... just for the commercials.

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