Think Different
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Think Different was an advertising slogan created for Apple Computer in the late 1990s by the New York branch office of advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day. It was used in a famous television commercial, several print advertisements, and several television and print advertisements for Apple products. Apple's use of the slogan was discontinued with the start of the Apple Switch ad campaign in 2002.
It has been said that the phrase "Think Different" is grammatically incorrect[citation needed], and should be "Think Differently" instead. It is not incorrect if one views it as a statement not on how to think, but on what to think (as in "Think Green" or "Think Big"). "Think Different" also responds to the long-time IBM slogan "Think."
Critics have charged that Apple has tried to associate its brand with historic figures who may not have approved of Apple's products. Apple responded that they were paying tribute to the figures in question[citation needed], and the fact that many of them, such as Albert Einstein, were not even alive during Apple's existence helps support this argument.
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[edit] Text
A page on Apple's website (which is no longer available) contained the text used in the introductory "Think Different" television commercial, formatted as free verse: [1] The italicized text was not included in the original Think Different commercial, but was printed on large acrylic signs that were proudly displayed in Apple's first set of retail stores.'
- Here's to the crazy ones.
- The misfits.
- The rebels.
- The troublemakers.
- The round pegs in the square holes.
- The troublemakers.
- The rebels.
- The misfits.
- The ones who see things differently.
- They're not fond of rules
- And they have no respect for the status quo.
- You can praise them, quote them, disagree with them
- disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
- About the only thing that you can't do is ignore them.
- Because they change things.
- They invent. They imagine. They heal.
- They explore. They create. They inspire.
- They push the human race forward.
- Maybe they have to be crazy.
- How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
- Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
- Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
- We make tools for these kinds of people.
- While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
- Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can
- change the world, are the ones who do.
[edit] Television commercials
Significantly shortened versions of the text were used in two television commercials titled "Crazy Ones" directed by TBWA's Jennifer Golub with a voiceover narrated by Richard Dreyfuss.
The one-minute commercial featured black and white video footage of significant historical people of the past, including (in order) Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon, R. Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright and Picasso. The commercial ends with a young girl opening her closed eyes, as if to see the possibilities before her.
The thirty-second commercial used many of the people above, but closed with Jerry Seinfeld, instead of the young girl. In order: Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon, Martha Graham, Muhammad Ali, Alfred Hitchcock, Mahatma Gandhi, Jim Henson, Maria Callas, Picasso, and Jerry Seinfeld. This commercial aired only once, during the series finale of Seinfeld.
[edit] Print advertisements
Print advertisements from the campaign were published in many mainstream magazines such as Newsweek and Time. Sometimes these were traditional advertisements, prominently featuring the company's computers or consumer electronics along with the slogan. However, there was also another series of print ads which were more focused on brand image than specific products. They featured a portrait of one of the historic figures shown in the television ad, with a small Apple logo and the words "Think Different" in one corner, with no reference to the company's products.
[edit] Staff of Preparation
The campaign was made almost entirely in-house by the team at TBWA\Chiat\Day\Los Angeles:
Chairman and chief creative officer worldwide & account director: Lee Clow. Creative directors: Ken Segall, Rob Siltanen, Eric Grunbaum, Amy Moorman. Executive producer, director & art director: Jennifer Golub. Art directors: Jessica Schulman, Margaret Midgett, Ken Younglieb, Bob Kuperman, Yvonne Smith, Susan Alinsangan. Copywriter: Craig Tanimoto. Senior editor of the in-house arm, Venice Beach Editorial: Dan Bootzin. Stock photo and film research Susan Nickerson, owner and head stock-footage researcher, with Nickerson Research.
[edit] Parodies
The Think Different campaign was the subject of numerous satirical advertisements by culture jammer Ron English, in which the familiar phrase and logo were represented accompanied by pictures of Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, and Bill Gates.
At the end of Hunter Cressall's parody [2] the slogan "Crash Different" is displayed.
Wu-Tang Meets Indie Culture is an album from this series.
[edit] External links
[edit] The 60-sec. version of the television ad
- on Youtube
- .mov file, 3 MB
- .mov file, 5 MB
- .mov file, 10 MB (also here)
- .mov file, 14 MB (note that this link downloaded a 3.3 MB file on 2007-3-7)
[edit] The 30-sec. version of the television ad
[edit] One-person versions of the television ad
- mov file, 1 MB (mirror, on YouTube) Muhammad Ali
- mov file, 1 MB (on YouTube) Pablo Picasso (the footage is from the 1956 documentary "Le mystère Picasso" by Henri-Georges Clouzot)
[edit] Spoofs
- .mov file, 6 MB (also here) Villains
- .mov file, 3 MB Think Funny
- .mov file, 4 MB Think Dharma
- Think Different 2007 (youtube) (a remake using contemporary media persona)
[edit] Other ads with the "Think Different" slogan
- A whole collection of them
- Snail (.mov file, 2 MB)
- Toasted Bunnies (.mov file, 4.7 MB)
- Jeff Goldblum (.mov file, 3 MB)
- Mohammed Ali (.mov file, 1 MB)
