The 1984 Apple commercial directed by Ridley Scott and shown during Super Bowl XVIII was titled “1984.”
The advertisement presented a dystopian auditorium dominated by a giant screen and a dictator-like speaker. A runner carrying a sledgehammer then shattered the screen, followed by a message saying that Apple would introduce the Macintosh on January 24. The commercial drew on imagery from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, although it did not name the novel's author in the spot.
Apple broadcast the advertisement nationally during the January 22, 1984, Super Bowl. The Macintosh launched two days later. The commercial became a landmark in technology marketing because it sold an idea of personal liberation and creative individuality rather than listing technical specifications. It is often confused with Apple's later “Think Different” campaign, which began in 1997.