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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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John Naughton

What would Steve Jobs think of Apple’s culture-crushing advert?

Apple’s latest iPad ad, showing a hydraulic press crushing analogue devices.
‘Powerful and revolting in equal measure’: Apple’s latest iPad ad. Photograph: Apple/AP

This is a tale of two advertisements. And about the company that made them – Apple Inc. The first ad ran during the Super Bowl in 1984. It was made by Ridley Scott, the celebrated movie director. The vibe is distinctly Orwellian: set in a vast, darkened auditorium dominated by a giant screen entirely filled by a sinister-looking talking head, who is clearly Big Brother (BB).

The opening shot shows lines of drably uniformed, shaven-headed zombies marching in lock-step into the building. “Today,” intones the talking head, “we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the information purification directives.”

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