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1984 [1] was edgy precisely because it worked as a criticism of society and culture, and then showed a way to 'break free' of mindless dystopia. This [2] ad is

1984 [1] was edgy precisely because it worked as a criticism of society and culture, and then showed a way to 'break free' of mindless dystopia. This [2] ad is pretty much the exact and literal opposite. It essentially takes a sampling of the great things that culture and society has produced, destroys them, and then shows the Product, while literally singing "All I Ever Need Is You." Here [3] a guy basically reversed the ad, with the iPad being crushed, and then slowly lifting it up to have all the great stuff in society come out of it. And suddenly it's actually quite uplifting and positive! [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc [3] - https://twitter.com/rezawrecktion/status/1788211832936861950 https://twitter.com/rezawrecktion/status/1788211832936861950

amatecha 3y ago
Today's "1984" ad would have to include someone throwing a sledgehammer through an iMac, and similarly destroying an iPhone. It wouldn't be an advertisement for any corporation though, because a truly game-changing act today would be to opt out of the extractive and coercive cycle of modern proprietary technology.
- robertlagrant 3y ago
  It was totally incongruous when it was made as well. Buying a computer from a company was never an act of rebellion.
  - rvense 3y ago
    Rebellion can't be bought, but in the 1980's I think it was still an open question whether computers would ever be something that non-nerds wanted. In hindsight, it seems inevitable that general purpose, user friendly computers would crush everything, but was that really a given? Isn't there a possible world where IBM and/or Xerox do own everything and never make it past huge, expensive systems that were only made for specialists? For everyone here that loved our C64 or DOS PC, how many of our peers actively rejected early computers because they weren't fun to use?
  - fanatic2pope 3y ago
    Besides which it seems to me that Apple has never really been against having a single giant corporation controlling everything you can see, do and say, they were just against that corporation not being Apple.
    - robertlagrant 3y ago
      I think they're pretty good at resisting that tendency, IMO. They're not pre-Musk Twitter or anything like that. Do you have examples?
- Nasrudith 3y ago
  What about rebelling against the cultural elements of rebelling? Much of the image of rebellion has been a futile cycle of (ironically) trying the same thing repeatedly and failing to make any changes. Not falling into the bullshit of old bearded white men who never had to work for a living, were total economic illiterates even if they called themselves economists, and have been dead-for centuries.
svara 3y ago
This is incredible, (3) is literally the better iPad ad. Really goes to show how poorly thought out the original was.

amatecha 3y ago

Today's "1984" ad would have to include someone throwing a sledgehammer through an iMac, and similarly destroying an iPhone. It wouldn't be an advertisement for any corporation though, because a truly game-changing act today would be to opt out of the extractive and coercive cycle of modern proprietary technology.

robertlagrant 3y ago
It was totally incongruous when it was made as well. Buying a computer from a company was never an act of rebellion.
- rvense 3y ago
  Rebellion can't be bought, but in the 1980's I think it was still an open question whether computers would ever be something that non-nerds wanted. In hindsight, it seems inevitable that general purpose, user friendly computers would crush everything, but was that really a given? Isn't there a possible world where IBM and/or Xerox do own everything and never make it past huge, expensive systems that were only made for specialists? For everyone here that loved our C64 or DOS PC, how many of our peers actively rejected early computers because they weren't fun to use?
- fanatic2pope 3y ago
  Besides which it seems to me that Apple has never really been against having a single giant corporation controlling everything you can see, do and say, they were just against that corporation not being Apple.
  - robertlagrant 3y ago
    I think they're pretty good at resisting that tendency, IMO. They're not pre-Musk Twitter or anything like that. Do you have examples?
Nasrudith 3y ago
What about rebelling against the cultural elements of rebelling? Much of the image of rebellion has been a futile cycle of (ironically) trying the same thing repeatedly and failing to make any changes. Not falling into the bullshit of old bearded white men who never had to work for a living, were total economic illiterates even if they called themselves economists, and have been dead-for centuries.

svara 3y ago

This is incredible, (3) is literally the better iPad ad. Really goes to show how poorly thought out the original was.