We don't know if you noticed, but this entire week has been filled with companies "leaking" their Super Bowl commercials. That's how big the NFL's big game has become. This Sunday while you watch the Packers and the Steelers, you'll be bombarded with a stream of multi-million dollar commercials. But it wasn't always this way.
In 1983, an upstart computer company called Apple was about the verge of releasing its Macintosh personal computer and partnered with Chiat/Day to create a commercial that would, in the words of Steve Jobs, "stop the world in its tracks." That ad was the Ridley Scott-directed "1984" and it changed the way companies looked at the Super Bowl.
Speaking to MediaWeek, former senior vice president and creative director of Chiat/Day, Steve Hayden, told the story of how the historic ad spot came to be. He shed some light on what the board thought of the commercial, how it almost never happened, and debunked some myths. We picked the five most interesting things you probably didn't know...
1. The Sledgehammer Was Almost a Baseball Bat
When the commercial was originally conceived, Lee Clow, a copywriter at Chiat/Day, suggested that the star of the commercial—the Jane Fonda-looking heroine that runs up and smashes the huge screen—should be carrying a baseball bat. Thankfully, director Ridley Scott stepped in and insisted that she wield a sledgehammer instead, arguing that the effect would be much greater. He was right.
2. The First Version of the Ad Was Much Happier
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3. The Apple Board Hated It
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4. Steve Jobs Didn't Want it to Run During the Super Bowl
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5. It Didn't Only Run During the Super Bowl
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