How do you feel about the poem written for Apple Marketing Campaing in 97?

yes, that’s why i only buy apple computers.

It’s advertising pandering to the “everyman” who doesn’t want to identify with being an “everyman”.

@hungryhungryhortence Exactly. I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t think they fit into one of those categories. We’re all special snowflakes and all that…

@Likeradar i’m my khakis and the car i drive.~

actually, i’m just a sucker for well-worded monologues with good black and white photography.

I agree with hungryhungryhortence’s and Likeradar’s assessment of the sentiment and the objective. As far as poetry goes, well, it’s grammatical.

as an aside, did anyone see this image of Steve Jobs, using the words from this campaign. whatever your feelings on the guy or this ad, that’s a cool picture.

*“Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?”*

Can’t everyone see the finished work?

I don’t think everyone would fit into those categories.
There are plenty of average and non-extraordinary people in the world that just want to get along and go about their day.

Also, when matched up with the imagery for the commercial, it depicts people who rose to the top of their field and broke down barriers.

It does more than pander to the everyman, it inspires the seemingly ordinary person to reach higher and set lofty goals or to ignore the conventional wisdom that says you can go further.

This is not something that everyone strives for, in my experience.
That is not to say that everyone couldn’t reach higher, just that only some actually do.

indifferent

@Dog, I can see it in my head, but my hands don’t get the message.

Just an “ok” freehand poem lacking flow in some places. It doesn’t really appeal to me, because like fireside said, I’m just an average guy taking things one day at a time. Plus, I don’t think buying an Apple computer would help me change the world.

Hmm, maybe I’m shallow but I really like it. In fact we posted this “poem/ad” above the toilet in our office (that’s actually a reflection of liking it, contrary to what it may seem). Yes it’s transparently manipulative but I feel that way about all advertising. But as far as advertising goes, and as a stand-alone poem, it’s nice to see something that affirms the importance of thinking/seeing things differently. So it’s an homage to geeks, artists, and revolutionaries. If you recall the timing of this, we were smack dab in the middle of irrational market exuberance, not so many years off the heels of Reagan/Bush supply side douche-bag-ness—and geek hipness was still a few years off. Say what you want about Apple—and I’d be the last to say the company itself has contributed to greater current sensitivity to our collective responsibilities—but their sheer existence and artistic and technical differentness has benefited us all tremendously. Not just for PC’s, but for all consumer devices, Apple’s set and continues to set new bars of excellence for how easy and reliable technology ought to be. I’m still on a PC cuz they’re cheaper and if they break you can fix them, but my Lenovo sucks less than it would if Apple hadn’t been giving MS and others a run for their money for the past 25 years.

Just another form of mind control. Wait! That is what advertising is all about. :-)

i think it’s charming. obviously, since it’s advertising something, it’s probably not terribly genuine – and it feels pretty half-assed to me – but you have to look past that to appreciate any advertisement. i definitely agree that it appeals to the general population, by making them feel unique and hopeful and like they have all of the possibility in the world. sure, not everyone wants to be extraordinary, but even if you don’t, hearing something like that probably makes the shopper in you at least feel a little special and giddy. besides, even if you don’t want to be a revolutionary artist or something, chances are you still want to be successful in whatever endeavor you’re involved in, and have probably been called crazy or out there for some reason or another.

also,
In fact we posted this “poem/ad” above the toilet in our office (that’s actually a reflection of liking it, contrary to what it may seem).
@pallen123 that made me kind of laugh out loud, because i was thinking ‘huh. that’s interesting’ right before i read the sentence in the parentheses. (:

is it not better than anything microsoft ever come up with…

does it not reflect the whole mac ethos….

which is perhaps why it is not universally approved of here…which just goes to show it is sincere in its sentiment…

yes i have a mac…

Sounds like Apple Marketing to me.

Marketing in general for that matter.

I have a hammer to sell. Big deal.
I paint a rainbow on it, now everyone wants one.