When apple introduced the Macintosh personal computer for the first time on American television, they had no idea of the cultural footprint they would be leaving for centuries to come."1984" was revolutionary. It became a signature representation of apple computers. There are many reasons for why this idea was so incredibly successful, two of them being:
1. It was only aired once. It's only U.S. televised broadcast was on January 22, 1984 during and as part of the telecast of the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII. It was never again televised as a commercial after that. This made it kind of like a "once in a lifetime" phenomenon. It's not like you could just look up the video on YouTube if you missed it the first time; this was 1984.
2. Originality ahead of its time. When put in context with the other commercials aired during that super bowl, "1984" is in a category all its own. Even now, in today's technologically advanced society, this idea still possesses revolutionary originality beyond its years. Just take a look at this 1984 commercial for dominos pizza that also aired during that superbowl. How can you even compare the two?
With that said, imagine what Apple's "1984" concept would look like if it had been produced today. Well, you don't really have to imagine it, you can just watch this recreation for ABC's new series, The Duet.
But can you really compare the invention of the Macintosh computer to yet another version of a talent search TV show? Theres no question that "1984" was a revolutionary concept that received phenomenal reception for Apple, but that isn't necessarily going to be the case for ABC just because they copied the idea. Apple was successful because their product was just as revolutionary as the commercial that introduced it. While ABC's commercial is thoughtful and creative, its hard to see it leaving the same cultural impact that was created the first time around.
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