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Just Pre-Game Jitters (1/28/99)
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Are you one of those people who has been constructing elaborate theories about why Apple bought a Super Bowl ad spot, then tried to sell it off at the last minute, and finally decided to use it to show their year-2000-themed HAL 9000 commercial-- previously designated as an "Internet-only" ad? (If so, congratulations-- like us, you apparently have no life. One of us! One of us!) Well, finally, the speculation about the eleventh-hour changes in Apple's Super Bowl advertising plans can wind to a close. The Mac Observer excerpts a San Jose Mercury News article, which tells the whole story of how HAL was hoisted from his net-only perch to extoll the benefits of Macintosh to a hundred million people during what is one of the biggest sports events in the world.
Apparently, Steve Jobs had decided way back last spring, probably even before the height of the pre-iMac-debut frenzy, that Apple needed commercials that focused on the Mac's Y2K compliance. After a few false starts, TBWA/Chiat/Day finally came up with the idea of using HAL 9000 as a spokesmainframe sometime during the summer. Two days and a quarter of a million dollars later, they had completed the commercial we all know and love. Upon seeing it, Jobs decided that he wanted to show it during the Super Bowl, and Apple bought the ad slot. But creeping doubt set in, Apple got cold feet, and they told Fox they were pulling out. Up until a week ago, that's where things stood. In the meantime, the HAL ad was shown during the keynote address at the Macworld Expo earlier in the month, and response from the crowd was huge. Then the ad was posted on Apple's web site, and after being downloaded 250,000 times and prompting "thousands" of email messages to Apple begging them to put the commercial on TV, Apple finally decided to go ahead with their original plans.
So that's what happened: no product delays, no "mystery commercial" that didn't get done on time, no alien abductions (at least, none that we can prove, at any rate). Just a last-minute case of cold feet that got thawed by the enthusiasm of Apple's fans. At least, that's their story, and they're sticking to it.
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SceneLink (1302)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 1/28/99 episode: January 28, 1999: Sony finally sues emulation wizards Connectix for their nifty new Virtual Game Station product. Meanwhile, for those of you still trying to unravel the mysteries of Apple's Super Bowl advertising plans, a TBWA/Chiat/Day exec tells all, and the Apple board of directors may never be the same again, thanks to a new annual re-election requirement...
Other scenes from that episode: 1301: And The Battle Begins (1/28/99) Listen... Did you hear that? That was the sound of the other shoe dropping. Ever since Connectix unveiled its remarkable "Virtual Game Station" Playstation emulator at the Macworld Expo a few weeks ago, Sony has made no attempt to mask its displeasure... 1303: Refreshing Changes (1/28/99) How many of Apple's problems during the "scary years" were directly attributable to the board of directors? People can argue over whether they were actively detrimental or simply ineffectual, but one thing's for sure: they sure weren't helping matters much...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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