Apple Top Super Bowl Commercial, 1984

During Super Bowl XVIII in 1984, when the Washington Redskins were defeated by the Los Angeles Raiders, 38-9, Apple introduced the Macintosh in a classic commercial directed by Ridley Scott. In a gray, drab, urban landscape, Orwellian drones march in synchronized manner while a Big Brother-esque film plays from large and small screens. One woman, played by athlete Anya Major, runs through the lines of people, carrying a sledgehammer and wearing a colorful outfit which makes her stand out from the crowds. When she reaches the largest screen, she circles the hammer above her head and hurls it against the screen, where it flashes and an Apple logo flashes. The computer company then prepares viewers for the Macintosh, which will make the actual year 1984 nothing like George Orwell’s dystopian “1984.”