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

[SysAdmin]

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZiWTdc6Dc8

[buzz]

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZiWTdc6Dc8

I don't agree - Just watched it and though it was pretty cool!

[XDelusion]

People were just a different kind of stupid and flakey than they were today. 20 years from now (hopefully sooner) you'll realize how stupid and flakey we and our social trends and philosophies are today. And you'll think,"really, I responded to marketing adverts like that?!?!?"

[wawrzon]

@SysAdmin
watch whatever kind of television broadcast from that time for comparison. imho (im an visual artist) this commercial is still pretty cool, nothing of usual sort.

[Trev]

The same commercial redone with white, indistinct backgrounds and transparent surfaces would work today; however, you'd have a very hard time escaping a copyright infringement suit re: the similarities to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[Lord Aga]

I kinda like this one

[Matt_H]

It tells you close to zero about the Amiga itself, other than it giving you a creative edge. In that sense, and in the visual style, it's not too dissimilar from Apple's 1984 Mac ad.

Bill's kinda right, though - the A1000 *didn't* sell well and it wasn't until the A500 that the Amiga really took off.

[tone007]

After seeing that commercial, I'm never buying another Amiga again.

[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.

[persia]

Yeah, next time you're talking to someone from 2033 mention Facebook to them and they'll breakout laughing.

People were just a different kind of stupid and flakey than they were today. 20 years from now (hopefully sooner) you'll realize how stupid and flakey we and our social trends and philosophies are today. And you'll think,"really, I responded to marketing adverts like that?!?!?"

[Kesa]

That baby is creepy.

[agami]

I feel like Lisa in the 'Mr. Plow' episode of The Simpsons (409).
Lisa: (dazed and bewildered) "Dad, was that your commercial?"
Homer: (confused) "I don't know."

Seriously, WTF?

I lived through the 80's and had an extreme interest in advertising (which incidentally led to me study marketing), this commercial does not represent the prototypical marketing expression of the day.

Looks like the agency's first crack at 'weird'. What's with all the walking and unrelated architecture leading up to the 5 seconds in front of the computer? I know they were trying to build up anticipation but it doesn't work when you conclude with an anti-climax. They should study this one in marketing courses as an example of 'doing it badly'.

[Matt_H]

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.

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...

[djos]

I thought the commercial was ok for say a Super Bowl type commercial thats designed to generate conversations but you'd want something waaaaay better as and everyday commercial to actually sell them properly*!


*which obviously never happened!

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

LOL.  That was pretty terrible.  I still <3 the ones with the Goonies music in the background though, and re-post them from time to time just to annoy my Facebook friends with my nostalgia.  ;-)