With commericals like this in 1985 it's a wonder they sold any Amigas

[Ral-Clan]

I actually like that commercial - at least it was classy.  But yes, it doesn't tell you anything about the computer itself.

However, the commercial's produced for today's Apple products are pretty much all art without telling you anything about the product - and look how that stuff sells.

[Ral-Clan]

Er, I'm having a hard time seeing how you came to this conclusion.

Seems to me that today's Apple ads do *nothing but* show off the product. Granted, it's against a faux-artsy white backdrop and faux-indie music, but still...

Okay, maybe the current crop of commercials. I guess I was thinking of the first iMac commercials ("she's like a rainbow" ones) where all you saw were lots of jellybean coloured iMacs dancing in formation.  Also the early iPod commercials where it just showed silhouettes dancing to solid background colours.  Yes - a picture of the product was prominent, but there was little to no information in those to TELL you what the product did if you'd never heard of one before.  Yet, those were some of the most successful commercials & products Apple ever released.

[Ral-Clan]

The 80's and classy don't go together.  Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjIHrb-aSI8

I LOVE that commercial, and I've never seen it before!  The giant computers are really good replicas!
I wouldn't say that commercial isn't classy - well, it's more good natured fun, but definitely not "tacky" or embarassing.