Sunday, January 22, 1984. 96 Million people are watching the Superbowl Final Los Angeles Raiders vs. Washington Redskins in Tampa, when early in the third quarter, a 60 second commercial changes the world.

Apple’s mindblowing allusion to Orwell’s “1984” was directed by Ridley Scott with a production budget of $900.000. It only aired one single time, but the film is indelibly imprinted in the minds of Mac users across the globe and is considered one of the most influential commercials of all time.

More than 20 years after that sledgehammer hit the screen, ARNOLD WORLDWIDE in Boston brings it back with an interesting and scary experiment: The creatives put the commercial back into an early pre-production state called “animatic”, an animated storyboard with a narrative text. And then they tested it. In a focus group, under real life circumstances. Real people recruited to evaluate the ad.

What you are about to see is what happens to strong advertising ideas every day. Ideas that are highly emotional and deeply touching. Ideas that are never going to unfold their power because they will never end up on screen.

This is why most ads suck.

This film was used as an opening video for the 2007 Hatch Awards.
Directors: Roger Baldacci & Lawson Clarke