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| 1984 |
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| Saturday, 14 April 2007 | |
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As Erik and I wonder what we can bring to your attention that is worthy and perhaps a bit different from the blog-fare that’s so readily available, the issue of the recent re-do of the famous Apple “1984” commercial was again discussed and its recent pirated adaptation that overlays Senator Hillary Clinton in the big screen. A brief re-visit seems to be in order. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen the spot check out this url: (http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/adclass/1984_mac_ad.html ) and its recent pirated adaptation that overlays Senator Hillary Clinton in the big screen. During the process of re-examination I was reminded of the original philosophy – the position really – that Apple adopted. While the rallying cry for the Apple brand in the market place was “Be Different”, one can look at it as a political statement even then. It was a creative metaphor encouraging the marketplace to bravely fight the totalitarian excess of the major computer giant of that era [“No One Ever Got Fired For Buying IBM”]. And so before blogs and message boards there was an invitation to be inventive and expressive in your own idiosyncratic fashion – as a consumer! Hooray. But whoops. Implicit in that message was also an encouragement to be the same – find an option that others like you are adopting. The Macintosh commercial used as its platform the big brother representation of the Orwellian state – and invoked images of every dictatorship or mass following. And, if we were to do a full content analysis consideration must be given to the portrayal of the woman as heroine -- representing empowerment and liberation. At that time when many were still to purchase their first computer the woman was perhaps selected as being more approachable. Think new voters – and the need for a non-IBM candidate – one that could bring a brand equity of difference that surpasses the female candidacy and suggests empowerment and joining a new community. Hmmmm ? "Think different!" as a slogan for both democratically disposed voters and computer shoppers suggests that a “non traditional” choice is a way to achieve individuality, rationality, liberty, and empowerment. This is of extreme importance because in 1984 – as we all understand now - advertising was not anymore about the product, but about how consumption and possession defines us as individuals. The candidate of choice – for each of us – represents a distinguishing “club” and we articulate both our difference from ‘them’ and our similarity to ‘us’ in the choice we declare. And, the development of experiential advertising and its intersection with the idea of brand makes this distinction of community and belonging clear and – more importantly – something we can work with, develop tactical executions for and attract adherents, believers – in short – a bigger share. At the end of the day, your client has to like that. (Burns wishes to acknowledge his colleague Dr. Vanessa Vonseca for introducing him to this line of thought – how prescient our ideas were then.) Comments (0)
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