How Apple’s 1944 Came To Be

You might remember last week when we reported on a strange Apple propaganda video that depicts a 1944 World War II scenario where IBM is the axis of evil. Since then, a little bit of info has come to light about the video and how it came to be. It seems that in the late 70s Michael Markman was creative director of Image Stream, an L.A. media company, and his job was to help bring the video to life. Here’s a bit from his blog:

Given the way Steve had positioned Apple against  IBM, it just seemed to fit. Glenn, Mike, and I began brainstorming right there in the office. Ideas came tumbling out. IBM had Charlie Chaplin for P.C. advertising. And, it turns out that Charlie Chaplin not only had a Hitler-like mustache, he had actually done a Hitler sendup in The Great Dictator. We’d show oppressed workers liberated by the brave forces of Macintosh. We got so excited by the idea that Mike wanted to rush right in and pitch to Steve.

Perhaps the most iconic moment for those who are fans of the Steve Jobs legacy:

Glenn and I had discussed getting a professional impressionist to dub in the FDR dialog. When we mentioned that to Steve, he immediately jumped in to say, “no, I’ll do the voice myself.”

It’s been a long time since Apple has done anything remotely like this (that we know of), and there’s almost a sort of friendly charm to the goofy video. Nevertheless, with Apple being where it is today and the key players having all changed, I wouldn’t hold my breath for more videos like it.

Source: How Apple’s 1944 Came To Be
Via: Daring Fireball

Corey has been been a tech journalist with a focus on Apple since 1998 and has written for The Loop, MacHome magazine, and as games contributor for The Mac Bible, and co-hosts the iGame Radio Podcast. He works as a corporate consultant and professional musician in Ottawa, Ontario.