Secrets behind Apple’s famous ‘1984’ Super Bowl ad that almost didn’t air

“Apple almost didn’t air its iconic, dystopian-themed 1984 Super Bowl commercial, former Apple CEO John Sculley tells Business Insider,” Paige Leskin reports for Business Insider. “The story behind the ad’s production is the subject of the latest episode of Business Insider’s podcast, Household Name. It examines the stories behind how the ad almost didn’t make it on TV, the on-set controversies, and the impact the commercial had on Apple in the 1980s. The Household Name episode, ‘Apple 1984,’ is available on your favorite podcast app.”
“When Apple cofounder Steve Jobs first saw the ad, his reaction was, ‘Oh s–t. This is amazing,’ former Apple CEO John Sculley told Business Insider,” Leskin reports. “Meanwhile, when Apple’s board of directors saw the ad, they hated it. But Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak loved the ad, and told Household Name it was ‘better than any science fiction trailer.’ When he found out the board voted the commercial down, he offered to pay $400,000 out of pocket — half of what it would cost to air the ad during the Super Bowl.”
“The ad almost never ran after the ad agency showed it to focus groups before airing it,” Leskin reports. “People hated the ad, and some said it reminded them of concentration camps. The ad agency decided to hide the results of the focus group instead of showing them to Apple.”

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MacDailyNews Take: Lessons abound: Listen to the founders, not the Board and…
It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them. — Steve Jobs.