From the 30th Anniversary Issue of Adweek, by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners co-chairman Jeff Goodby, regarding the best commercial of the 1980s:
No one writing about the ’80s could skip the Apple “1984″ commercial. It changed the way we’ve approached not just the Super Bowl but all big-event advertising. It also showed that you could use a fairly obscure story from a book only English majors had read to make spectacular advertising. But although it was influential, it only ran once.
(Emphasis mine)
Really? George Orwell’s 1984 is a “fairly obscure story” that “only English majors” have read?
I mean, I know advertisers don’t read anything but books by other advertisers, but come on.
Yep, it’s right up there in the galleries of obscurity with Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby.
No doubt. It’s not quite up to the level of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, though. That book’s a CLASSIC.
I thought this was required reading in like… junior-high? I know I read it when I was about 12 or so originally. Re-read it a few years back just for kicks.