As the Apple Turns: Scene 662: Billboard Hijinx Explained (4/30/98)

Billboard Hijinx Explained (4/30/98)

Alas, this week's "Think Disillusioned" hack of an Apple Dalai Lama billboard in Silicon Valley was apparently not the work of prescient extraterrestrials, but rather the handiwork of a group of "eccentric advertising professionals" calling themselves the Billboard Liberation Front. Their press release describes the motives behind the slick-yet-spooky transformation of Apple's logo into a grinning multicolored skull.

The press release is actually a pretty funny bit of satire, poking fun at Apple for its controversial "bold exploitation of these heroes" such as the Dalai Lama, who reportedly received a monetary gift from Apple in exchange for their right to use his image in their ad campaign. Our favorite bit is their quoting Steve Jobs as saying, "If you think Apple's going to pay Chiat-Day for that half-assed Gap-khakis-ripoff-crap, I'm giving you two Gils on the dumb meter." Sounds like the culprits are Mac fans who aren't too impressed with Apple's current campaign.

While we at AtAT are pleased that the hack wasn't just a bunch of bored anti-Mac bigots with a less-than-clear delivery of their message, we're a little disappointed that it wasn't aliens after all. That is, unless this Billboard Liberation Front is just a convenient and ingenious cover story, who has been disguising the true origins of alien billboard restructuring since 1977. Hmmm.

SceneLink (662)

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The above scene was taken from the 4/30/98 episode:

April 30, 1998: Steve Jobs, apparently after suffering some sort of head trauma, reportedly claims that consumers want $500-700 computers instead of really expensive ones. Meanwhile, a group comes forward to claim responsibility for the "Think Disillusioned" billboard hack, and thirteen states are currently planning an antitrust attack against the Redmond Giant...

Other scenes from that episode:

661: Long Live the New Flesh (4/30/98) Strange days indeed... say what you will about Steve Jobs, but one thing he's never been accused of doing is selling low-priced products. You'll all recall, for instance, the incredibly high margins on Apple computers back in his first stint with the company...
663: The Tide Still Turns (4/30/98) Goodness, things in the Microsoft antitrust world seem to be moving along at quite a clip. Just yesterday we reported that the eleven states who planned to file an antitrust suit against Microsoft had grown to twelve, with the addition of West Virginia...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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