Apple’s “1984” campaign promoted the Macintosh with a dystopian television commercial directed by Ridley Scott.
The advertisement showed a lone runner entering a theater where uniformed viewers watched a giant screen. She threw a hammer into the screen, symbolizing a break from conformity and centralized control. The commercial concluded by announcing that Apple would introduce the Macintosh on January 24, 1984.
It aired nationally during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. The commercial became famous not only for selling a computer, but also for treating a product launch as a cultural event. Its visual language drew on George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, although the advertisement did not name IBM directly.
A common mix-up is calling the campaign “Think Different.” That slogan belonged to Apple’s 1997 campaign. “1984” is the title generally used for the Macintosh launch commercial.