As the Apple Turns: Scene 2468: Think Nonviolent Protest (8/8/00)

Think Nonviolent Protest (8/8/00)

As a general rule, we like to keep everyday politics well away from AtAT's complex and interweaving plotlines. Dramatic and explicitly Apple-related stuff like Steve Jobs's covert plans to control the world's Tang resources is okay, but we shy away from even something as mundane as White House extramarital indiscretions; despite the subject's overt soap opera qualities, it's just been done to death, and frankly we can't find it particularly theatrical. In fact, we dug through the Reruns and turned up only three uses of the name "Lewinsky" in as many years (well, okay, now it's four), and it was always invoked with the greatest sense of tact and taste-- the use of the term "Tinky-Winky" notwithstanding.

But every once in a while, something political happens that is related to Apple, and thus we feel compelled to work it into the script. Faithful viewer Reiza Ali tipped us off to the actions of two activist groups, the Rainforest Action Network and The Ruckus Society, who sought to protest "corporate influence" on the U.S. political process by hanging a 1500-square-foot banner on the side of the Hotel Figueroa. According to a Channel 2000 story, the banner was a "giant U.S. flag with corporate logos where stars should have been, and with the word 'Sold' stamped across it."

How does this involve Apple? Well, as it turns out, the flag was "flanked by huge images of the nation's Democratic heroes... as part of a way to welcome the DNC, and part of Apple Computer's 'Think Different' campaign." So as these scrappy protesters scaled the hotel and unfurled their banner, the images of "Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy and Cesar Chavez, and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt" looked on. Our seance hat's at the shop, so none of the Democratic heroes could be reached for comment, but we like to think that at least King and Chavez might have approved.

Steve, on the other hand, may have felt otherwise. It's one thing to get arrested by Los Angeles cops, and it's another to alienate the entire Democratic party-- but provoking the Wrath of Steve is a whole different caliber of danger. (Just ask ATI.) So, despite being "The Man" now, hopefully the different-thinking Steve is still rebellious enough in nature to sympathize with what the protesters hoped to achieve, instead of being angry at those crazy kids who upstaged his ad campaign. Heck, we think it'd be really interesting if Apple scrambled to add one more giant poster to the area-- a reproduction of the protest banner, with the words "Think different" discreetly added. It'd never happen, but wouldn't it be a hoot?

SceneLink (2468)

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The above scene was taken from the 8/8/00 episode:

August 8, 2000: The Cubes are ready, but the mouses aren't. See what you can do to help. Meanwhile, protesters at the Democratic National Convention hang a banner alongside Apple's "Think Different" posters, and a senior editor at Novell's DeveloperNet notices Windows's striking resemblance to his ailing gall bladder...

Other scenes from that episode:

2467: Boycott Glasses, Get A Cube (8/8/00) Despite some encouraging progress on the delivery front, a few of the shiny new Macs announced at the Expo continue to be a little tricky to grab. The Cube, in particular, presents a challenge; some viewers report that their local dealers will have them in stock "any day now" and ready to unload on people willing to drop $1799 on the world's first gigaflop tissue box, while others bemoan their order's ever-increasing lead time from the Apple Store...
2469: Comparative Anatomy 101 (8/8/00) Today's quickie: faithful viewers Jerry O'Neil and Russell Maggio both pointed out an article in The Register which proves that corporate subtlety is alive and well. Our former Paragon of Tact was none other than Michael Dell, whose October '97 public comment that if he were in charge of Apple he'd "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders" reigned for nearly three solid years...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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