Hi everybody! If you want to integrate the extracts you have in your textbook you can read here some more chapters from the novel 1984.
To see how much you know of the novel try doing the QUIZ on 1984 you’ll discover some new things you don’t know since you haven’t read the book.
Here’s the trailer of 1984, the movie from Orwell’s novel. Is this the future we want?
I’m also embedding the stunning, mind-blowing Apples’s commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh Computer to the world by explicitly referring to Orwell’s novel. It was shown & broadcasted during the Superbowl in 1984. Apple is always one step beyond the others! 😉
TASK ONE:
- What do you think is the message of the advertisement?
- Is the ad effective also for those who don’t know the novel or does it need a certain amount of…education? LEAVE A COMMENT.
Last but not least for those who love the Eurythmics and Annie Lennox as much as I do, theirs is the soundtrack of the movie and the song SEXCRIME. Enjoy!
Lyrics:
Can I take this for granted/With your eyes over me?/In this place/This wintery home/I know there’s always someone in/Sexcrime/Sexcrime
Nineteen eighty four/And so I face the wall/Turn my back against it all/How I wish I’d been unborn/Wish I was unliving here/Sexcrime/Sexcrime
Nineteen eighty four/I’ll pull the bricks down/One by one/Leave a big hole in the wall/Just where you are looking in.
HOME ASSIGNMENT
Choose also one of these two topics for a 2/3 m. speech. (You can use images if you like)
- Have you seen the tv show Big Brother? did you ike it? What aspects of Orwell’s 1984 do you think are present in this programme?
- Do you think television is used to control the ideas & behaviour of the public? Think of how advertising in particular influences our society & give examples from your own experience. (from Literary Landscapes, Black Cat)
I’m adding now an excerpt from the movie “Detachment“ 2011 American drama film about the high school education system directed by Tony Kaye, the director of American History X. I think this scene is fantastic to show the importance of education & knowledge to avoid the dangers of a totalitarian society and regime like the one depicted by G.Orwell. It can also help you comment & reflect on the novel we’re reading in class and Apple’s advertisement. Enjoy
DOUBLE THINK
The spot is definitely based on G. Orwell’s novel “Ninteteen Eighty-Four” and I have to admit that personally without reading the novel I wouldn’t be able to understand its deeper meaning .
Although G. Orwell belongs to the previous century, his works and themes are still very actual, for example the lack of privacy, rights of individuals and conformism are widely discussed .
Through this spot they want to say us that the new Macintosh computer will save us in the hypotetical future condition like the one described in Orwell’s novel. Apple company wants to release us from “conformity” but in my opinion they’re just trying to conform us by offering an alternative that is not so different from the earlier one. Basically the fact is that the company sell gadjets and devices that should save us from “the Big Brother”, but that in reality still represent a threat to our condition, privacy and liberty.
In my opinion nowadays is quite impossible to live without being afficted by a sort of conformism and the only think we can do is trying to think with our own head.
I am clearly in late and I’m so sorry about that…I’ll improve, I promise!
Good morning / Goodnight to everyone,
Everyone has written interesting and enlightening comments…so congratulations to each of you, but now I do not know exactly what to say.
Let me start by saying that I really like George Orwell.
Besides his works, unexpectedly , I liked also, and above all, his life and ideas that he had during his social and human growth
”escape from…every form of man’s domination over man”
I don’t think I’ve ever read something that reflects so much my thought, it’s incredible!
I believe that the message of the Apple’s advertisement is that there is nothing that can overcome or limit the freedom and the will to live of humanity.
Everything that man create, as modern and functional, will be never able to replace or subdue the man.
Humanity is by definition free, strong, dreamer, unstoppable but above all uncontrollable : nothing and no one will ever be able to bend her essence.
The message is easily understandable by everyone.
A woman, who is distinguished from all the other people in appearance and clothing, runs ,chased by the police, with a hammer in his hand.
Arrived in front of the big screen that is washing the brain of the mass, the woman throws the hammer, breaking the chains that oppress the human mind, limiting their freedom, art, inspiration and audacity.
It is a very effective strategy which, paradoxically, has the same purpose of the big screen: manipulate the mind of the customer in order to sell more product possible
What scares me most is seeing how a masterpiece born in 1949 as a dystopian novel, today can be considered as a realistic novel.
We’re getting used to use less and less our skills, entrusting our lives and knowledge only to technology.
There is only one Big Brother that keeps the power in hand, but there are an infinite number of big and small brothers that grip us, smash us and never leave us.
We are becoming puppets for all those who hold the real power and pull the strings.
Fortunately, unlike Orwell’s novel, we are still able to learn about our past and build our future…the future of each of us!
With this last effort my brain turns off.
We’ll see in class,
sweet dreams
Hi everybody
I personally believe that the advertisement is trying to lead us to understand that technology is actually able to let us be “free” to express ourselves, to speak our minds and to overcome situations such as ignorance, oppression and fear, which are all shown in George Orwell’s “1984” novel.
I had actually already seen the ad before since it is quite well-known for its message (some of you might know that even the animated science fiction sitcom “Futurama” made a parody of this, in order to promote their package delivery company) but I never managed to link it to Orwell’s novel, which by way wasn’t something new to me. The similarities are impressive (the spot is clearly “1984”-inspired) and I think it’s very cool to see the huge impact literature has in media even nowadays. We will never “get rid” of it! 🙂
The message still seems to be very clear: I’ve showed the video to my parents (who don’t know the novel) but they were able to realize it was about fighting totalitarianism and its fundamentals. We were even able to have a nice discussion about it!
Here’s the link to Futurama https://youtu.be/lSt04IPqFfM
Hey
Sorry if I’m a bit late but this time it has been difficult for me to express my point of view because I didn’t have a very clear one. I appreciated the advertisement that Apple has done because, like Christian said, it succeeded in representing a big message with a deep meaning in a few seconds. But Apple’s talent is above all the capacity not to trivialize a so important argument, even if the time wasn’t so much.
I didn’t read the book so I simply expressed my point of view saying that in my opinion the message of the advertisement could be summarized in a quotation, which is:
“-É GRAVE ESSERE DIVERSI? -É GRAVE SFORZARSI DI ESSERE UGUALI: PROVOCA NERVOSI, PSICOSI E PARANOIE” (Paulo Coelho).
The ad fascinated me because it transmitted me a big sense of rebellion, of desire to escape from the society, from what surrounds us and from those people who demand to have the full control of other people’s lives. I know that it isn’t the same thing but during my teens it often happened to me to feel this sense of oppression, like (as in the novel 1949) someone always watching me through a ‘telescreen’ and controlling what I’m doing. It is exactly for this reason that I watched the minute 1.04 of the video with an admirable gaze towards the young girl, who succeeded in demolishing with a hammer the screen where the person who represented the oppressive and tyrannical power was speaking (the Big Brother).
This girl perfectly embodies the will to go against the grain and this is also one of my deepest dreams because I hate the homogenisation of human beings, who live in the fear of being an outcast because of their differences, instead of enhancing them.
Finally, given that I didn’t read the novel I can say that this advertisement can be effective also for those who don’t know well the novel but I’m sure, like Michela said, that being familiar with it can help you to get more deeply the connection with Orwell’s work.
I want to conclude with another quotation that turn on my mind every single day:
“BE THE CHANGE YOU WHANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD” (Mahatma Gandhi).
Hi 🙂
Firstly, I would like to say that I really enjoyed this post and 1984 should be a wonderful novel.
The Apple’s advertisement was fascinating too and in my opinion it wants to say how individualism is important in our lives.
We are all different and our differences make us unique and human. So, it’s unrighteous that the government or the media shape our minds in order to think and speak like they want us to.
This ad wants, also, represent women’ strength and the fact that we are as important as men are. In fact, in the video it’s not a boy who broke the screen, where the Big Brother is talking, but a girl! She is the one who fights against conformism.
Moreover, I think Apple wants us to understand that also personal computers Macintosh can do the same thing. For real, in the last phrase they are implicitly described as a way to reinforce our personalities and peculiarities upon conformism.
Finally, I don’t think this message is difficult to understand for a person, who haven’t read the novel. The purpose is clear, thanks by the scenes and the choice of the colors. For instance, there is a big amount of blue men dressing and acting in the same way, opposed to a pale girl with red shorts struggling for her ideals against the government. The only sentence that someone could not understand, if he or she doesn’t know 1984’s plot, is: “And you’ll see why 1984, won’t be like “1984” “, only because they don’t know what 1984 is.
In conclusion, this ad is incredibly deep and I really like it.
Bye 🙂
Hi everybody
first of all I want to say that I agree with the fact that Apple is one step beyond the others, because this advertisment is amazing. In my opinion its message is that televisions, radios and papers have the power to control our minds, because the informations that they give to us are selected and modified. The mass medias have the opportunity to stand out certain news instead of others and also to spread them in the way they want. For example, in the documentary film that we saw in class,“Bowling for Columbine”, Michael Moore said that in the United States, medias engenders a ‘climate of fear’. They give prominence to violence and crime in news reports. This happens everywhere, because the states have the monopolio on medias and so they spread the information that THEY consider more important, maybe also because they want to distract us from some problems, as in the past politician did with imperialism. The population at that time have been distracted from the internal problems of the country, by talking about the colonies.
But we have the duty to fight against this exploitation, as the girl of the video does. In order to do this, I think that it’s essential to be educated, to read, to study, to get informed, because the power of education is the strongest of all.
In the estract of our book of the Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984”, there is the slogan of the Party which rules the world of Oceania: “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”.
I want to focus your attention on the last sentence, because it explains what I think perfectly. In fact, the society of Oceania is regimented and oppressive; there is a lack of freedom, love and peace; people are constantly under the control of “Big Brother”, who in order to impose its power uses violence and above all the IGNORANCE, because if people don’t know their rights they never would get in contrast with the regime. For this reason it’s really important to be educated, because the knowledge give people the power to not to be mind driven.
Hello!
First of all I would like to say that I’m really appreciating this author and especially this novel, I read the plot in the book and I think that it really opens your mind.
The purpose and the meaning of the novel is deep but at the same time very direct.
The Apple’s advertisement, in my opinion, is brilliant. Of course, if you have no idea of what 1984 is referred to I think that it would be difficult to understand the finish line.
On the other hand the scene of the running girl, chased by the police, dressed in a total different way from the others, that destroys with a hammer the screen where the person who embodies the oppressive power and the abolition of creativity is speaking, in my opinion, is sufficiently clear to make people understand the message.
According to me, the aim of the advertisement was to empower creativity of people, to find a new way to think and to be who they really are…from this aspect the message is near to Orwell’s and this is what makes the ad so efficient.
Hey guys
I think the message of the advertisement is that Apple wanted to enter the market violently with a unique and innovative operating system compared to the ones still existing. Apple changed completely our way to manage the reality: instead of a grey world, homologated, where people are all identical, impersonalized and walk like machines, Apple proposed a new dynamic, colourful and thinking society. In the ad the girl runs countertrend, chased by the Orwell’s Thought police and therefore risking her life. Her goal was to interrupt that totalitarian modus vivendi, where every aspect of every person’s life was governed by a corps of powerful people who watched every move a citizen made. Apple, symbolized by the young girl, wanted to demonstrate that we could create a better world. Her gesture of rebellion brought astonishment in the grey people sitting in front of the Big Brother. Everybody thought nothing could have been changed, but a new world was starting, maybe.
I think the message Apple wanted to give us can be understood, but if you know the novel “1984” or you have a “certain amount of education” you will get more deeply the connection with Orwell’s work.
Bye!
Hi everybody! This morning I wrote the comment but I don’t know why it doesn’t appear on the comment section… By the way, I try to rewrite it!
I read the previous comments and i have to say that I totally agree with what Fabiola said because, although the commercial’s aim was to set people free from a sort of chain, to break the old rules and discover a new world, the truth is that now we are not free anymore.
Nowadays technology is reneweing itself very fast and if we want to have the best smartphone, the best computer or the best device, we have to buy always the latest one because it has apps and settings that the old ones don’t have! We are almost obliged to own the same things in order to live in a technological and always more innovative society. This concept is also applyable in fashion because, even if unconsciously, we buy and wear the same clothes . So now we don’t live following our own tastes because we are more and more influenced by what the world wants us to be.
Endly, I find that the commercial was very well made and the fact that it was published in 1984 empowers the meaning of its aim. I think that the message it wanted to give was very clear even for those who haven’t read the book but for a deepest understaning of the last sentence, it is better to know the book.
I found this post eye-opening and really provoking, because it made me realize that, so far, things have not differed so much from the past.
To be honest, when I first watched the Apple’s commercial that introduced the Apple Macintosh Computer to the world I found no explicit reference to Orwell’s novel and besides, I didn’t even understand what was the message it wanted to communicate. Only after having read about this author and his novel “1984” in our textbook, I got back to the Apple’s commercial and appreciated it much more, as long as I watched it with different eyes. The statement you hear at the end of the ad, “ you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like “1984”, was no more lacking meaning. THIS TIME, IT WAS ALMOST OBVIOUS THAT THE APPLE WAS ENHANCING, WITH STUNNING IMAGES, ORWELL’S WARNING AGAINST EVERY FORM OF VIOLATION OF LIBERTY.
Consequently, I find that a basic level of education and knowledge it’s strictly necessary to understand and get the right interpretation of the ad, otherwise it’s likely to look just absurd and pointless, ending up criticized or appreciated according to one’s preferences.
As I see it, the message of the ad is that we have the chance to create our free and fair reality …therefore, avoid the kind of world depicted by Orwell in 1984 as long as a truculent and uncompromising reality, where there is a “total surveillance society”, is a situation no one hopes to experience in the present time, nor in the immediate future.
Moreover, although the commercial makes us feel anxious because of the intimidating scenes (and in my opinion the anxiety rises also because we fear the future and worry about leaving the past behind), it suggests a feeling of hope and confidence in the capacity of humans to disengage themselves from negative, oppressive forms of totalitarianism and dictatorship.
However, I think it doesn’t really put an end to “thought control” and social conformism. I agree with Fabiola, who really made a point concerning this idea.. at the end, the Apple is a sort of “Big Brother, since they both operate identically, using similar mind-controlling methods. The only difference is that Apple presents itself as a “good hero” which comes and promises means of liberation and improvements for our existence through a commercial which sponsors a new revolutionary technology, which can “ideally” save us and our freedoms from submission, giving us the chance to live as independent and self-conscious individuals.
All in all, the Apple set the stage for the creation of a better society by broadcasting that ad in the right time: 1984, the same year of Orwell’s novel, which was reputedly known by everyone at the time.
Surely, it has been a lucky choice for the Apple, which, then, was able to obtain a benefit due to the circumstances; soon, indeed, the society got heavily influenced: along with the conviction that, with Macintosh, something good was about to happen, also hopes, about the possibility to change the present, rose progressively among people. In conclusion, I think it’s the scene of the athlete’s act of rebellion towards the absolute-control screen that throws the significant message out: how about if we find the courage to get rid of the past, and take a chance as regards building the future we want?!
Hi guys!
Watching advertising I must say that Apple has been brilliant and I think he hit his target in full. I think it wanted to be inspired by the famous novel by George Orwell because in “1984” the society is dominated by a technology that controls the lives of everyone;the Apple,instead,wanted to present the opposite: with the throw of the hammer against the big screen,it made clear how its technology is different from what Orwell meant, that doesn’t hinder or control the population but helps them and facilitates their daily tasks.
I have no doubt about it: it was thought well … the athletic girl with a hammer in his hand who runs away from the police gives a sense of strength and rebellion against despotism and when she is throwing the hammer also a sense of liberation. Moreover, in addition to being the only girl in the video, she is also the only one that stands out from the others, thus represent the contrast and especially the innovation. Then,stopping the video on the girl, I noticed that in the shirt is depicted the computer that Apple wanted to advertise …. once again, brilliant!
So,what for Orwell was the future, at that time for Apple was present and it demonstrated perfectly that .
I don’t think that people who don’t know the novel could understand the whole meaning of advertising, will surely have stimulated some emotion, a bit of curiosity and interest but perhaps they don’t fully understand what Apple intended to communicate, because as Virginia said, you need a basic education and knowledge.
Bye 🙂
Hi everybody
First of all thinking about what I’ve seen in this video I must admit that, as Mrs. Cimetta wrote, even when we speak about advertisement, Apple is one step beyond the others. With a simple and short video of one minute Apple succeeded in breaking with the past, with the old technologies and at the same time succeeded in presenting its own product as the means to obtain freedom and to fight against the bad technologies. The decision to use the image of the big brother was in my opinion brilliant, even for those who haven’t read the book: the invention of George Orwell was used by the company of Steve jobs in order to symbolize the products and the strategy of marketing which the rival companies adopted. In fact the chairman of Apple wanted to communicate that the other enterprises sold evil devices which will level out people and tried to describe its own computer as the antidote which can deal with and then defeat conformism.
In order to do that, the producer create a video which could be understood by everyone.
Obviously it would have impress more the people who have read the novel,because they know the ideology which is behind it and could have easily link it with the message Apple wanted to spread. Nevertheless even the ignorant could have understand the message only watching the scene depicted in the ad.
Bye 🙂
Hi!
I think that, like others said, the message of this advertisement is that this new technology, the computer, will break all the social chains, and will give a start to a new age, dominated by creativity and freedom; an age that will disengage us from our condition of submission, alienation.
The computer will help us to become individuals, leaving the mass society that is due to the development of capitalism and industralization, but also to totalitarianisms, like in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
The idea is great but, if we take a look at our present, I can’t see many differences with the novel. I mean, advertisement is the first to manipulate us, our necessities, our thoughts, what we’re going to buy and what we MUST buy to be cool in our society. The result is that we see everybody with an iPhone, an iPod, an iPad or an “iEverything”, like a little “Apple’s Army”. In this, I don’t really see creativity or freedom: I see a lot of teenagers, and not only, each of them (me included) with the same smartphone, the same clothes, the same shoes, the same hairstyle.
We don’t wear overalls, of course, but I see our society identical to the persons that are in front of the telescreen in the advertisement, althought it’s in a modern key.
Moreover, Apple and technology in general has also the intent to control our interests, what we buy, what we search in the net. They do market researches through our PCs and Smartphones.
In conclusion, I don’t think that there are big differences between the “old age” hat we see in the advertisement and in the novel and the “new” one, started in 1984 by Apple, as regards this point of “mass society”.
Last, to understand the commercial, I think that it’s important to know the story told by Orwell in his novel, althouht it might be understood anyway, apart from the last sentence.
Sup people!
I personally really enjoyed the post, this guy Orwell is seriously mind-blowing.
Anyhow, first of all, it’s clear that whoever designed that commercial seriously thought it through.
It’s interesting how it starts with images that are so suited to raise some sort of anxiety in us: all those people marching, dull eyed, wearing the same kind of clothing (which is -as pretty much the rest of the “scenery”- sort of grayish, colorless), not a single word is spoken, except for the ones coming from the man on the screen. Yet while we’re forced to stare at this painfully numb scene take place a dissonant element catches our attention. It’s quite the thought-provoking image if you think about it: it’s an obviously strong woman among what seems to be a male only herd of mannequin-like humans; besides, she’s dressed differently from any of them: white tank top and orange shorts…and those same pants are the only trace of color shown before the Apple logo at the end, which to me kinda wants to symbolize how far from Orwell’s 1984’s future the world was, thanks to the constant progress of technology, for which the same Apple company was(and still is) playing a leading role.
As for the second question I do believe some basic education and knowledge is strictly necessary to understand the connection. I struggle to see how somebody with no clue of what the novel 1984 is about and what it’s said in it could possibly catch the feeblest glimpse of what the commercial actually means.
Cya in class! 🙂
Hi guys!
Well, first of all I must say that this post shocked me! I was a little bit scared while watching the videos and reading the plot of the novel 1984, but at the same time I found it extraordinary and innovative. So it will be interesting to analyze and talk about it.
As regards Apple’s commercial I think the message is that new technologies, if used in the right way, can improve our lives, that is, they can be instruments at the service of human beings, instead of controlling them (as 1984 wants to show us).
The ad is effective for those who didn’t read the novel as well. The intent of Apple was, for sure, to stimolate people’s minds while promoting a product which would have break with the past and never propose a future like in 1984.
A new era had to come, different from the one George Orwell supposed in his book.
So the insight of Apple was spot on.
As Elena said, maybe the last sentence could not be understood by everyone, anyway the message is clear.
HI 🙂
The spot directed by Ridley Scott wants to highlight an important change in the course of history, the message of this spot is the liberation from dictatorship of a company in which we are all slaves, all the same. A society in which the person named by Orwell Big Brother controls the minds and thoughts of all the people and it is on this basis the spot project was set.
The young girl is a fresh and colourful comparison to the men who are presented all the same,with blank stares, wearing dusty uniform, walking mechanically along gray corridors and subjugated by the company. She is a heroine who symbolizes the arrival on the market of personal computers, the Macintosh which is stylized on her shirt, representing the symbol of salvation.
Her violent gesture, throwing a hammer against the screen while the Big brother pronounces the words “we should prevail” strongly implies putting an end to conformism and is seen as the means of the liberation of humanity.
The idea behind the spot was revolutionary for its time and for that reason 1984 was awarded as the best spot of the century. Even though the product is only hinted at in the ad, the mystery and story behind it, created an awed interest in the audience, a desire for knowledge and there was no doubt about its significant results.
Even without having previously studied Orwell, from the spot you can sense a dramatic change emphasized by the contrast between the male figures and the pale dictator projected on the screen, compared to the blonde, colourful , sexy female with an athletic body seen as a heroine who, destroying the huge screen puts an end to the hypnosis to which men are currently subjected. But it also creates more questions and leads you to search for further information connected to him.
This liberation of dictatorship with a promise of a great change is described from the speaker’s voice with his last words. But to understand the true meaning behind them, you would no doubt have to read Orwell’s1984 because its connection helps you comprehend the more intense , deeper meaning.
Thank you for your attention 🙂
Hey guys,
First of all I must admit that I’ve never read “1984”, but since last year I appreciated the allegorical and dystopian novella Animal Farm, I was pleased when Mrs. Cimetta assigned us to study Orwell.
Nineteen Eighty-Four was actually a huge astonishment. The story reminds me of the latest facts occurring in Orient nowadays. In my opinion the IS regime actually look a lot like the regimented and oppressive world of Oceania for so many aspects: it threats people through the “Thought”, it is always in war with other countries, there is no liberty, and instead there is absolute control on everything and everyone, persecutions, murders and so on.. But the extraordinary thing is that Orwell, in this book, was describing the Russian totalitarian regime with Stalin and the Nazism with Hitler, and certainly not what is happening at the moment. After this consideration I started pondering about how human nature so many time leads people to feelings of hate, yearning of possession and longing of power. And then suddenly a question popped up in my mind: “Will humans ever start learning from their past mistakes?” Unfortunately I haven’t found an answer..
Scrolling down the BLOGGISH’s page, the Apple’s ad at once caught my attention. Well, in my opinion the message is not clear. Certainly is a great commercial, which actually infuses Orwell’s warning against every form of totalitarianism and violation of liberty, however if we concentrate on the product we see a girl (who’s t-shirt is unreadable for me) that is throwing a hammer to a television screen. In fact, without the last few words of the ad, it could seem an invite to destruct technology because is leaving people feeling alienated, and not a promotion of a computer. Thus if you don’t know what “1984” means the meaning of the only sentence we see in the video remain misunderstood. Since Apple is, and at the time still was, a brand for everyone and not for a small elite of intellectuals, I think this ad was striking for its imagines, but I don’t know how many people got the right interpretation. Surely for those who were informed and knew the novel “1984” this commercial was brilliant and suggestive.
Thank you for your attention 🙂
Hi 🙂
When I watched the video, I didn’t immediately grasped the meaning that the advertisement intended to communicate, perhaps for several reasons: I have not read the book by George Orwell “1984” yet and I didn’t notice the image of Apple on the girl/athlete’s tracksuit.
Nevertheless the voice of the one who utters the speech, the uniforms and the (grey )faces of the characters and sportsmanship of the blonde girl in colorful clothes struck my curiosity.
Only later, watching the video again, I realized that the young woman is the strength of Apple, who’sready to revolutionize the computer’s world , with the introduction of Macintosh.
The voice, is the form of dictatorial government, imagined by Orwell in his book, a government that takes away all freedom to the individual, under the constant gaze of cameras.
I think also that the message that Apple wanted to give, was that, with their computers, everyone can “flee” and be free from all the conventions of the society.
That way we can look at the future in a more positive way.
Bye 🙂 🙂
Hi 🙂
The advertisement in my opinion wants to show that a new, better, technology can help us escape from a condition of submission. This new technology will give us the strength we need to break forever with a past where we were controlled and start a new life of awareness where we’ll be the advocate of our destiny.
I think that the message that Apple wanted to communicate is clear, the only thing that can be hard to understand for people who didn’t read the novel is the last sentence of the advertisement: “And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984”, which clearly refers to the book. Anyway, knowing that this ad came out in 1984, the same year in which the book takes place, I think that newspapers and TV spoke a lot about it, so everyone knew at least what the book speaks about, so the choice of Apple has not been a random one, they were sure that people would have understood the message.
Hi everybody!
I start by saying that I really appreciated the post; first of all because this author and, in particular, this book fascinated me from the beginning and secondly because I liked all the “connections” with our reality.
I think the message of the ad is that the sponsored product (the computer) will absolutely change things, will simplify the work in the office and the life of who use it, it will free men from the “weight” of using another computer.
As much as it is effective for those who had read the novel, it isn’t for those who hadn’t, who may remain puzzled; but since I think this is actually the role of advertisement, the expedient of Apple was certainly winning.