How The Super Bowl Helped Apple Become Top Dog

I vaguely remember Apple in the 1980's. My best friend's dad had one. But he was a techie. One of the first "IT" guys actually. What I do remember was a cool and very advanced (for its time) ad for Apple that aired during the 1984 Super Bowl.

Hands down, it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. What you may not know is that commercial single-handedly launched Apple into the "A list". It introduced the Macintosh computer and, if you look closely, you can see an I-Pod. That was introduced a year later.

Before the 1984 airing of this commercial, Apple was only attractive to geeks. But after they showed their vision and cool toy to the world, well, that changed. What better way to get more customers that with the most watched time slot ever?

So, if you are befuddled by why companies are willing to pay 4 million dollars for a 30 second slot to shill their product, just remember what it did for Apple.

Here's the commercial. Find the I-Pod!