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My appleII Notes-9

My AppleII Notes-9

99/11/27 Watching the Super Bowl Seat pad

A seat pad used in the 1985 Super Bowl stadium, with the Apple Logo printed on it, arrived. I looked at a piece of the cushion and examined its history and origin.

This seat pad is made of polyester and is 33cm × 33cm, with a thickness of 4cm. Polyurethane made sponge fits inside. There is a small patch with the number “21” written on it and there is a big Apple Logo. On the back is something about Super Bowl XIX: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California, January 20, 1985, Copyright NFL 1984. In addition, it has a strap with Velcro tape and it is about 40 cm in length, so Ｉ can see that it is a cushion that was used for the chair in the stadium during the 1985 Super Bowl. The patch with number “21” on it would be the seat number. On closer examination of the Super Bowl (19th) in 1985, January 20, 84,059 spectators were gathered at the Stanford Stadium, San Francisco. The 49ers scored a victory against the Miami Dolphins by 38-16. The MVP was found to be Joe Montana of QB.

Courtesy of BMUG Apple Commercial Videotape

I remember seeing a piece of famous American football footage somewhere before, it was in one of Apple’s collection of video-taped commercials; BMUG (Berkeley Macintosh User's Group ). When I took a look at an Apple commercial video, Joe Montana appeared for a moment on the screen. Speaking of Apple CMs, the CM of 1984 which was broadcasted at the previous year's Super Bowl is famous, and so too is this piece of footage. At least that is what I thought, but if I look again more closely, I can see that it was in fact from 1985. By the way, the 18th Super Bowl in 1984 was held at Tampa Stadium in January 1984 with 72,920 spectators. The Los Angeles Raiders dropped the Washington Redskins by 38-9. The MVP was Marcus Allen, running back for the Los Angeles Raiders.

"1984" courtesy of the Apple Computer, Inc.

Macintosh commercials were aired in the Super Bowls of 1984 and 1985, the details of which were reported in the books: The Mac Bathroom Reader and Apple Confidential. The author of these books was Owen.W.Linzmayer, (refer to My Apple Notes-6) An outline is as follows: -In 1982, Apple's advertising agency Chiat/Day planned a catch phrase for corporate advertisements to appear in The Wall Street Journal. -It was decided that a CM be broadcasted at the Super Bowl in January 1984. -The film Blade Runner was created by director Ridley Scott in September 1983 at Shepparton Studios in London. The film was- It was extremely unpopular with the Board of Directors. - In the early third quarter of the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984 in front of 96 million viewers, a TV commercial was broadcasted using the 60-second frame which created a huge sensation.

"1984" courtesy of the Apple Computer, Inc.

The famous catch phrase “And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984’’’ is said to be challenging the totalitarian future image of George Owel's masterpiece “1984”. As a part of the development of the "Macintosh Office" campaign, Apple, following the success of the previous year, asked the Creative Team of Chiat/Day to produce yet another topical commercial. They wanted Ridley Scott to direct it, just the same as the previous year, but were unable to schedule him. But they were able to appoint his brother Tony Scott instead. As a result, a somewhat dark 60-second commercial "Lemmings" was made. Here blindfolded businessmen hold a briefcase in their right hand, put their left hand on their friend's shoulder, and jump from the cliff one after another just like the game "Lemmings". Finally, the last one removes the blindfold at the cliff top and decides not to jump to his death.

"Lemmings" courtesy of the Apple Computer, Inc.

Apple announces in a press release that this advertisement will be broadcasted during the fourth quarter.  The copy goes: "If you go to the bathroom during the fourth quarter, you'll be sorry". Steve Jobs and John Scully visited Stanford Stadium themselves and watched the Super Bowl from the front row. For this advertisement, Apple set up a huge screen at the stadium and arranged soft cushions with Apple's logo to be placed on each seat. The stadium’s seats were renowned for being uncomfortable. Contrary to expectations, “Lemmings”, which was screened at the stadium during half-time; the CM which was aired in the 4th quarter so that all in the US could see it, didn’t get the same response as the CM of the previous year, and this campaign was considered a failure. Following these circumstances, this cushion in my hand is one piece of a cushion that is said to have been produced – there were about 100,000 made at this time. It was on January 24, 1985, two days prior to the event that an incomplete Macintosh Office was spectacularly introduced by Jobs and Scully at the 1985 annual shareholders' meeting.

"So Far" courtesy of the Apple Computer, Inc.