The evolution of the Apple brand is as fascinating and innovative as the products it markets. The first image was the apple tree, which did not last long. In 1977, Rob Janoff designed the bitten apple with six multicolored lines, a visual identity that remained for more than twenty years.
The ‘bitten apple’ logo, introduced with the Macintosh personal computer in 1984, played a pivotal role in the product’s success, reinforcing the message that ‘Technology had been humanized’.
The ad spot directed by Ridley Scott, a British producer, contributed to a record $155 million in Macintosh computer sales six months after the game was broadcast, making Apple the most successful company in the industry.
The Simplicity of a Powerful Symbol: the Bitten Apple
This symbol has a unique quality: structural simplicity. The concise design of the apple superimposes the company’s central idea, which is technology. In 2011, the multicolored apple changed to the white version we know today.
The commercial was nearly not aired, among other things, because of widespread opposition led by John Sculley, Apple’s CEO at the time, who thought it was arbitrary.
Another explanation is that neither a single Apple product nor a photograph of the Macintosh is advertised. Finally, pressure from the marketing team and Steve Jobs, obsessed with the ad, prevailed.
The Ad That Set the Tone
In the commercial broadcast, Scott surprised everyone with a homage to the novel of the same name written by George Orwell, entitled “1984”, which shows a conglomerate of men attending the speech that “Big Brother” is giving them on the big screen.
A female athlete runs through the movie theater, being chased by the police officers. Before they can stop her, she throws a sledgehammer at the screen, metaphorically destroying the tyrant.
The film closes with the image of the bitten apple and the text: “On January 24, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984’”.
It is essential to clarify that the first broadcast of the ad was not in 1984. The first airing took place during the night of December 31, 1983, as Gisela Baños points out in X. The reason was that Apple already believed that this ad could be historic and wanted to submit it to a contest that awarded the most outstanding advertising spots in the United States. It was an essential requirement that it be broadcast before the end of the year.
The real first broadcast took place silently on a local television station in California before the end of 1983.
Marketing experts considered Apple’s short film to be the most innovative in Super Bowl history, and it’s one of the reasons Apple’s “bitten apple” is still being identified 40 years later.