|
Who'da Thunk It? (5/17/98)
|
 
|
| | |
Speaking of million-dollar gambles, it's beginning to sound like Apple's $1.5 million advertising investment during the final episode of "Seinfeld" has paid off after all. MacNN pointed the way to a Business Wire article about a poll in which web surfers identified Apple as one of the companies whose ads they liked best. (If you missed Apple's 30-second "Seinfeldized" version of its original "Think Different" ad, we've still got it in Quicktime 3.0 format here.)
That comes as at least a mild surprise to us, since we felt that the commercial wasn't particularly engaging, and certainly wasn't worth spending a million or two to show only once. But among 485 people who registered their opinions on the web, the Apple ad was listed among those the viewers remembered most, and it (along with the Budweiser ad) was also listed as a "favorite commercial overall." It's almost as if Apple knows exactly what it's doing. ;-)
As for the "Seinfeld" final episode itself, well, it didn't fare nearly as well as Apple's commercial did. Only about a third of the respondents considered it to be "Very Good" or better, and almost half said they were disappointed. The official AtAT rating for the show is "not very good," and believe us, it's not because of the so-called "dark" ending. It just felt like everyone was plodding through their lines, with little or no interest in what was going on around them. That's okay-- we've still got all those classic episodes in syndication. (Last night they showed the Chinese restaurant one. We love that one.)
| |
| |
 |
SceneLink (713)
|  |
 |
|
And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
| | | |
|
| |
|
 | | The above scene was taken from the 5/17/98 episode: May 17, 1998: Apple's continual transition from a cool technology company into a profit-driven computer manufacturer becomes still more complete, as details about the dissolution of the Worldwide Disabilities Solutions Group come to light. Meanwhile, though response was lukewarm to the final episode of "Seinfeld," viewers apparently liked Apple's "Think Different" ad contribution, as did Think Skateboards, who did a parody of Apple's famous billboard campaign for their latest print ad...
Other scenes from that episode: 712: Apple, We Hardly Knew Ye (5/17/98) It's not as if we all needed reminding that Apple is changing-- the company's hardly the same entity it was even six months ago. But while many of the changes that are taking place are positive ones-- increasing market share, better products, and actual profitability-- others show that some of the nicer points of the Apple we once knew are being left behind in the scramble for corporate viability... 714: Another Sighting (5/17/98) We thought some people might be interested to know that parodies of Apple's "Think Different" campaign are still popping up here and there. This time, it's a print ad for Think Skateboards in the June 1998 issue of Thrasher Magazine...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
|
|
