Top TV commercials Apple since 1984

In 2016 Apple celebrated its 40th anniversary by releasing a '40 years in 40 seconds' video, as well as presenting a playlist with tracks from apple products ads. I suggest watching (or revisiting) the top promotional videos Apple right up to the 1984 Super Bowl video.

1984 – 1984

33 years ago Apple introduced the Macintosh personal computer during the Super Bowl American Football Championship. The ad was directed by renowned Ridley Scott, but at the time the board of directors Apple considered it 'the worst ad they have ever seen'.

Despite this criticism, however, many people still consider 1984 the best TV ad of all time. After the airwaves Apple, 72,000 computers were sold in the first 100 days – twice as much as expected.

1985 – The Lemmings

In the euphoria of an incredibly successful 1984 ad campaign, Apple hoped to replicate the result with the Lemmings. Having entrusted the shooting to the same creative team as the year before, but under the direction of Ridley Scott's brother, Tony, the management wanted to recreate a similar formula.

But the “Lemmings”, demonstrating mass suicide, became a real disaster for the Cupertinians. Viewers called the video “offensive,” and the relatively weak sales following the release of the video forced the company to shed 20% of its employees. Founder Apple Steve Jobs also left the company in 1985.

1986 – “The Power To Be Your Best”

The slogan “The Power To Be Your Best” appeared in the eighties. Its use in the next decade was a clear sign of success.

At the same time, this campaign has faced some criticism from marketers, accusing Apple of positioning its computers not on a par with other computers, but as a separate class of devices that provides users with undeniable advantages.

1987 – “Hard Shell”

In the 1980s IBM still dominated the computer market. Naturally, Apple tried to win back her piece of the pie with varying success. A 1987 Macintosh ad called Hard Shell hinted at the Apple corporation's desperate discontent with its position in the computer industry.

It's worth noting that while the race between these tech giants continued into the 21st century, in 2014 Apple and IBM announced a massive collaboration, formally ending years of feud.

1988 – “Pencil Test”

In 1988 Apple she presented a short film co-created with Pixar. The video showed the possibility of using Apple Macintosh II to create animation. The cartoon tells the story of a digital pencil that first leaves the computer screen, and then unsuccessfully tries to return there.

Interesting fact: Steve Jobs, who left Apple in 1985, before his return in 1997, managed to acquire a small computer graphics company from George Lucas – on its basis Pixar was created in 1986.

1989 – “Hit the Road Mac”

The first 'portable' Macintosh appeared in 1989 and was accompanied by the video “Hit the Road Mac”.

Although the company itself made a lot of hype about the new computer and called it nothing less than portable, it weighed 16 pounds and cost $ 6,500.

1990 – “Color”

In October 1990 Apple introduced the Macintosh LC, the first relatively inexpensive computer with a color screen. To tell ordinary users about its achievement, the company, as always, made its advertising simple and informative.

At a cost of $ 2,400, the computer is widely used in schools, universities, and ordinary homes.

1991 – “Macintosh Classic II”

The Macintosh Classic II was a really fast affordable business computer (or so Apple thought). It was sold in the same package as the Macintosh Classic, but with more power.

The video dedicated to him was replete with camera spans and large free spaces, which, according to the plan Apple, were supposed to attract the attention of eternally rushing business people. Apple ended support for this machine only in 2001.

1992 – “John and Greg”

In 1992, the company tried to impress shoppers with a video in which two businessmen were working on their PowerBooks on an airplane at an altitude of 10 kilometers.

These days, people like this are more common than the guy with the newspaper who was squeezed between users with laptops in this ad.

1993 – “What is Newton?”

1993 was marked by the release of a device called Newton. It could store calendar, fax, contacts, take notes, and even support handwriting

However, the idea of ​​popularizing pocket computers failed miserably, although, as we learned from smartphones, it had huge potential.

1994 – “Before After”

A year later Apple she appeared not only as a manufacturer of computers, but also as a filming equipment. More specifically, the company released the world's first digital camera QuickTake 100, the device was priced at $ 749.

But in reality, the product developer was not Apple: fearing the loss of serious and loyal customers from the film industry, Kodak took advantage of the brand Apple.

1995 – 'Power Is ”

In 1995, the apple corporation decided to use the faces of many famous celebrities in its advertising, including Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Marley Martin, George Clinton.

1996 – “Mission Impossible”

In the next video Apple, she also used a celebrity to promote her gadget. This time, the advertisement used fragments from the first part of the film Mission: Impossible.

Later Apple also used this franchise for its own marketing in 2011 in the fourth part of the film 'Phantom Protocol'.

1997 – “Here’s to the Crazy Ones”

In 1997, when Steve Jobs returned to his position, the company managed to successfully rebrand the image as a manufacturer producing 'products for' independent thinkers'.

In addition to the TV video, Apple bought ad pages in many newspapers and magazines, adorned them with black and white photographs of such revolutionaries as Albert Einstein, Mohammed Ali, Gandhi, Bob Dylan and Amelia Earhart – and next to them was the famous today the expression “Think Different” and the logo Apple.

1998 – “Un-PC”

In 1998, the company adopted an aggressive advertising tactic that it will pursue for the next decade: direct competition with Windows computers.

Apple saw itself as a stylish alternative to dull faceless PCs.

1999 – “Hal 2000”

Before the next millennium, many people were unreasonably afraid of something terrible that would bring them a new millennium. Apple could not help but play on this fear and used the iconic character from 'A Space Odyssey 2001' Stanley Kubrick in her video.

The Hal 9000 ad delivers an apocalyptic monologue that “one day computers will spiral out of control and only the Macintosh was built to work and build perfectly.”

2000 – “iMovie”

This classic (for Apple) video with a powerful soundtrack and stylish picture, alas, could not bring success to the advertised product. Just a year later Apple the production of this model of computers ceased.

However, for its innovative design Apple she was recognized in the art world, as a result of which you can see the G4 Cube even in the New York Museum of Modern Art.

2001 – “Propellerheads – Take California”

The first video ad for iPod came out in 2001 and featured a small but energetic clip featuring music from the Propellerheads, a band that never officially released full-length albums. The first iPod held about a thousand songs and sold for $ 399.

Its interesting design, scroll wheel and user-friendly interface have greatly changed the way people listen to music today.

2002 – “Big and Small Ideas”

In advertising for the new PowerBooks, the company wanted to showcase a variety of new devices capable of offering the optimal screen size for any user. This computer was available in 12 “, 15” and 17 “versions.

The video stars Chinese basketball player Yao Ming, who is about 220 cm tall with a 12-inch version, and comedian Vern Troyer, who is 80 cm tall, with a 17-inch PowerBook.

2003 Jet – Are You Gonna be my girl

By 2003, the iPod was all over the place. And Apple increased its market cap even further by releasing a series of stylish 'silhouette' videos. One of the most memorable was the video with the track “Are You Gonna be my girl?”, After which the little-known Australian group managed to sell over 3.5 million copies of their first album.

Apple used this ad to promote the online music store iTunes, which opened in 2003. U2, Bob Dylan, Black Eyed Peas and Coldplay were involved to create these videos.

2004 – “20th Anniversary”

20 years after the legendary Macintosh commercial came out, Apple re-released this video, adding the iPod Classic to the female athlete.

Except for this element, the video remains the same. Steve Jobs unveiled a new ad during Macworld's 20th anniversary celebrations in San Francisco.

2005 – “Impossibly Small”

In contrast to our days, in 2005 there was a pronounced trend towards smaller gadgets in the market of phones and other portable electronics. The iPod Nano, at 8.9 cm long and 0.6 cm thick and weighs 42 grams, set a new miniaturization record.

CEO Apple Steve Jobs announced the Nano at a special event, pointing a camera lens at a small pocket on his jeans and saying, 'Have you ever wondered what this pocket is for?' Then he took the iPod Nano out of it, and the audience burst into applause.

2006 – “Get a Mac”

The first video of this series appeared in early 2006, by May there were already 19, and by the end of the same year, the advertising campaign consisted of 66 videos. Its goal was to contrast the Mac with boring Windows PCs.

To this end, Apple hired Justin Long to play the young and reckless character impersonating the Mac, while John Hodgman was supposed to play the older, clever and tense PC.

After a few “Get a Macs,” sales soared 12%, and by Q4 2006 Apple had sold 1.6 million Macs, increasing sales by 39%.

2007 – “Hello”

I think there is no need to explain how this year affected the company itself Apple, and indeed the entire human society.

The ad for the first one iPhone was framed in the form of inserts between 31 Hollywood actors saying 'Hello'. The purpose of the video was to show that the first touchscreen phones could very quickly change the mobile market.

2008 – “MacBook Air”

Not resting on its laurels after the resounding success of iPhone, Apple has re-established itself with the MacBook Air. The Air was an extremely thin device with quite good power, and this moment was displayed in a 30-second video, where the computer is removed from a regular paper envelope.

In addition to the success for itself Apple, this video made famous the French-Israeli singer Yael Naim and her track 'New Soul'.

2009 – “There’s an App for that”

In 2009 Apple launches another catchy slogan: “There’s an app for that”.

The 2009 ad campaign was meant to convey to the general public that iPhone could be more than just a communication tool.

2010 – “Apple iPad TV commercial”

3 years after the release of iPhone, Apple once again revolutionized the presentation of the first of its kind tablet iPad.

In order not to go into technical details, the company released a simple and at the same time ingenious video showing the operation of various applications on iPad, thereby simplifying the perception of the new device as much as possible for ordinary buyers, eliminating the need to come up with scenarios for using an unusual gadget.

2011 – “App Store”

By 2011, Apple began to feel threatened by smartphones on competing platforms, which had almost all the same features as iPhone. Therefore, the company was forced to look for new ways to promote itself. As a result, marketers Apple decided to use the App Store for this purpose.

In January 2011, the company announced that it had downloaded its 10 billionth app on the App Store. To celebrate this achievement, the person who downloaded this app – Gail Davis from the UK – Apple presented a $ 10,000 iTunes Store bonus card.

2012 – “John Malkovich”

In 2012 Apple she resumed her marketing strategy by inviting celebrities to star in her commercials.

Samuel L. Jackson, Zooey Deschanel and John Malkovich have appeared in Siri virtual assistant videos from iPhone 4s.

However, despite all efforts, this advertising campaign is considered unprofitable. Peter Daboll, head of research and marketing firm Ace Metrix, said that “this ad has not met with much success because the use of Siri by actors and ordinary people is very different. Because of this, some people banded together and filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the video was staged and that the actual functionality of Siri did not match what was shown in the ad. '

2013 – “Misunderstood”

Apple got back into shape in 2013 with “Misunderstood,” a Christmas video that went on to win an Emmy Award for Best Commercial Video. It shows a teenager getting too carried away with his iPhone during the winter break.

But in the end it turns out that all this time the young man was busy creating a family video, which he presented at Christmas.

2014 – “The Song”

When marketing people Apple have great success, after a while they try to repeat the familiar formula.

So in this Christmas ad we see a girl who found a recording of her grandmother singing the song “Love is Here to Stay” to her late husband in 1952. The girl decides to use a MacBook Air to 'update' an old song by overlaying her voice and music onto the original soundtrack.

2015 – “Apple Watch”

In the first advertisement Apple Watch, the emphasis was not on dry listing of technical characteristics, but on demonstrating the capabilities of smartwatches in everyday life.

2016 – “40 Years in 40 Seconds”

First, in 2016 the Cupertino-based company celebrated its 40th anniversary with the aforementioned playlist on Apple Music and the video “40 Years in 40 Seconds”. And secondly, over the past year, the company has shot in its ads such famous personalities as actor Neil Patrick Harris, singer Aubrey Plaza, rapper Drake and pop singer Taylor Swift.

In addition, the video featuring Sesame Street Cookies, which has collected 12 million views on YouTube, has gained immense popularity.

2017 – “Meu Bloco na Rua”

In 2017 Apple redefined its relationship with advertising agency TBWA / Media Arts Lab in order to focus its marketing efforts on local markets and digital products.

One example of the company's new policy is a video that shows the power of the new portrait mode in iPhone 7 Plus.