I remember seeing this ad on TV back in 1984; at the time I was using an Atari 1200 computer but had a chance to use Macs at RIT a year later.

Coming across this ad video on YouTube, I noticed something I don’t recall from seeing the ad 30 years ago (yikes, I’m getting old!):



This is the part where the girl just lets go of the hammer that destroys the big screen.

Notice something? She’s wearing an iPod! With clickwheel!

The original iPod came out in 2001, so in 1984, when the ad was broadcast, no-one had probably even thought of putting something like an iPod together.

If you check out this YouTube video in comparison (which is the original clip), you’ll find that the girl isn’t wearing an iPod.

Here is a screenshot of nearly the same frame from that video:



So the above video has been altered; I would say in a massively professional manner, not something you do with mickey-mouse editing software. They probably had an actress, all dressed in black, emulate the girl’s movements. That way, you can capture the motion and light effects of the iPod and the headphone cord properly and overlay it on the original ad video.

The description of the top YouTube entry clears up the mystery:

Published on Oct 18, 2012
For the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh, Apple re-released the ad with the runner wearing an iPod. Steve Jobs unveiled the ad during Macworld San Francisco.

Incredible!

Tags: Macintosh, Apple, Fake, Advertising