Simpatico Case—the Hammer of Macintosh
Perhaps the boldest and most effective Simpatico Persona ad of all time was the much acclaimed Apple Macintosh launch. Played only once during the Super Bowl in 1983, the visual extravaganza employed Ridley Scott's moody effects and Orwellian overtones, but it captured the imaginations of consumers so intensely that Macintosh was perceived as not just a product, but an entire culture – almost a religious cause. Macintosh promised the first user-friendly computer. This unique Simpatico approach was demonstrated in an image ad that was revolutionary in many ways. A lone female athlete trashes the rigid Big Brother culture of DOS with a neatly thrown hammer. She is chased by guards into a room full of gray, identically dressed people watching an imposing image on a giant screen. The 1984 Big Brother on the screen is droning on endlessly about the unification of information systems.
Without a word she shatters the DOS world, destroying the giant screen with her hammer – a clearly revolutionary metaphor. The violence of the ad uses aggressive Simpatico to suggest that the era of big, cold computers is over, replaced by the era of the friendly computer. This is Simpatico for the DOS-weary audience. The headline flashes: "On January 24, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."
The ad only played once, but it was never forgotten. Later Macintosh ads were friendlier, showing the warm characteristics of a Buddy Persona, but the evangelism of the Macintosh cause fully entrenched the powerful Simpatico Persona.
As original as the execution of this famous ad seems to be, all of the basic rules of Persona Imaging were incorporated. Apple Computer built a culture (The Image Factor) using high impact (Code of Impact) and reach (Code of Reach). Now considered one of the greatest ads of all time, the Macintosh launch was a classic Persona image launch. Apple used the Code of Singularity to separate Macintosh from the PC standard. They used the Code of the Hero (the athlete breaking the television screen) to create a counterculture that reacted against the DOS- dominated world. The company established instantly with one ad that it was the Simpatico Persona of computers. Within months, Apple was terrifying the blue suits at IBM.
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