1984 Ad Speculation

[MacRumors]

Several readers have submitted claims that the original 1984 ad has been further edited with a change of the date on the screen of "big brother" from 1/26/84 to 1/26/04.

The new ad however is simply a different quality and the text can be read as "84" in certain shots, while it is ambiguous in others.

 

[arn]

seems '84' to me

 

[MacBandit]

Seems pretty obviously 84 to me as well.

 

[MacBandit]

Well I went and looked at it for myself and around 41 seconds in it's obviously 04. When the speakers face moves behind it it sometimes looks like an 84 but at this part of the commercial at least I'm inclined to say they most definitely changed it.

 

[arn]

but why does anyone thing Apple would go to the trouble of changing it from 84 to 04?

If they did, wouldn't it be _obvious_? Sometimes it looks like 84 and sometimes 04? In that case... it's 84... because that's what it was!

And don't tell me something's going to happen on that date...

arn

 

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by arn
but why does anyone thing Apple would go to the trouble of changing it from 84 to 04?

If they did, would it be _obvious_? Sometimes it looks like 84 and sometimes 04? In that case... it's 84... because that's what it was!

And don't tell me something's going to happen on that date...

arn

Well I went back through it comparing the old and the new frame by frame. It appears that it is truly 84. It just looks like 04 briefly because of whatever filters they used for touch up and the new compression format they used. Also the new one appears to be re-mastered from the original as it is a slightly different aspect ratio.

As for telling you somethings going to happen on that day. I wouldn't say that but.... Personally I don't bet on or against something unless I know that it's a sure thing. Let's just say I wouldn't bet against something happening on that day.

 

[fltman]

the ad is changed

Yes, apple has changed the ad, notice that the running girl is now equipped with an ipod.

 

[sethypoo]

Might something happen on 1/24/04? As stated in the ad?

 

[fltman]

Originally posted by sethypoo
Might something happen on 1/24/04? As stated in the ad?

Seems very possible, anyway why does the screen say 1/26/04 and the text at the end of the ad says 1/24/04?

 

[Craiger77]

Different zeros

Look at the second pick posted above and you will see the shape of the 0 in front of the 9 for the time is fatter than the 0 in front of the 4 for the date. By itself the date zero could look like the kind of zero with a slash through it instead of an eight, but since the other zero isn't of this type than it is obviously an 8.

 

[arn]

Re: the ad is changed

Originally posted by fltman
Yes, apple has changed the ad, notice that the running girl is now equipped with an ipod.

131 comments on that: https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/01/20040106145527.shtml

arn

 

[peharri]

I have to say that on the huge screenshot (playing it double size in Quicktime or something) it looks like 84 to my eyes, albeit in a fairly blurred way. There's perceptable thining in the middle.

The other thing that makes me think it hasn't been tampered with is that the date is almost certainly the date the ad was originally shown (can anyone verify this?) rather than the date the Mac was released. As fltman points out, the date the ad reports as the day Macintosh will change everything is the 26th.

If Apple were to change it to drop a hint something is going to happen, wouldn't the right date to change be the one at the end of the ad?

 

[macMaestro]

Originally posted by peharri
I have to say that on the huge screenshot (playing it double size in Quicktime or something) it looks like 84 to my eyes, albeit in a fairly blurred way. There's perceptable thining in the middle.

The other thing that makes me think it hasn't been tampered with is that the date is almost certainly the date the ad was originally shown (can anyone verify this?) rather than the date the Mac was released. As fltman points out, the date the ad reports as the day Macintosh will change everything is the 26th.

If Apple were to change it to drop a hint something is going to happen, wouldn't the right date to change be the one at the end of the ad?

I think it says the 26th.

You can't really make anything out of this. I personally think it looks more like a 0, but it's impossible to really tell. Furthermore, I don't see much to be accomplished by changing the date. It's not like the date is featured prominently in the ad. All we're going on is a couple of blurry numbers. The only reason I can see anything happening on the 26th, is because it is THE 20th anniversary of Mac. Not because a blurry 8 was changed to a blurry 0 in a commercial.

 

[AppleMatt]

Re: Re: the ad is changed

Originally posted by arn
131 comments on that: https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/01/20040106145527.shtml

arn

Matt

 

[jxyama]

i noticed it the first time when i was waiting for the movie to load... i was just going back and forth, frame by frame while the rest of the movie was loading...

the most convincing argument i have that it's just blurred "84" and not "04" is the fact "0" used in the time right under the date has no slash through it. for the date "0" to be mistaken for an "8", it must be a "0" with a slash through it.

regardless, i don't think it's terribly significant. i just thought it was interesting...

 

[jwhitnah]

this is so page 3

 

[revenuee]

Originally posted by sethypoo
Might something happen on 1/24/04? As stated in the ad?

Well is a kinda birthday - a release birthday

 

[appleguy]

Originally posted by fltman
Seems very possible, anyway why does the screen say 1/26/04 and the text at the end of the ad says 1/24/04?

Hey it might be possible that it is announced on the 24th Released on the 26th

 

[rainman::|:|]

two words

wishful thinking.

it's 84. even in the freeze frames above, it's clearly 84. i watched it myself, 84. zoomed in, 84.

maybe when nothing happens on that day, people will reconsider the "04" theory.

paul

 

[revenuee]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
two words

wishful thinking.

it's 84. even in the freeze frames above, it's clearly 84. i watched it myself, 84. zoomed in, 84.

maybe when nothing happens on that day, people will reconsider the "04" theory.

paul

I'm convinced it's 04 not 84 ... but i think it's a 50/50 chance that there might be something

although i would doubt it considering the massive failure that the last 20th Anniversary Apple Product

 

[Squire]

Maybe just after Steve viewed the iPod touch-up, he whispered to the guy doing the work, "...and see that '84 there, John? Change it to an '04...but don't make it really obvious."

And now Steve is sitting at home with a glass of brandy reading this thread and laughing his ass off.

Squire

 

[cr2sh]

How could the girl be running, with an ipod... in 1984? They didn't have iPods back then.. duh.

 

[revenuee]

Originally posted by cr2sh
How could the girl be running, with an ipod... in 1984? They didn't have iPods back then.. duh.

is that your argument for it being 04 rather then 84 on the screen?

well then i guess we forget that the last line of the ad is --- see why 84 won't be like 84

*note: after reading my reply i notice that it may sound like an attack, take it as good natured fun - not an attack (i've been accused of attacking people )

 

[cr2sh]

Its a logical statement... that doesn't carry a lot of weight. If they're going to go through the hassle of updating the girl running with an ipod... its obvious she's in the present. Why would she be destroying the enemy of the past? The ipod is there because microsoft represents the totalitarian, their attempt to take over everything (mp3 market included). By destroying big brother with an mp3 player on, the ad is saying that Apple plans to start a revolution, all over again, using the ipod... the first great strike of this revolution begins... on the 24th. mwahahaha!

I'm being dumb, I know. It was a joke...

 

[Turismo86]

0 or 8

To me it looks like a zero in most of the close up frames. Of course it wouldnt resemble the zero in the line below because they would have had to edit and replace the 8 with a new zero. I also think that there is a light band on big brother's face that moves across the controversial digit in the later frames of the close up, like the one that arn referenced. Has anyone cross-referenced the frames from the new ad with the original? That might settle this debate.