All Super Bowl Ads, Like Almost Anything Else, Lives In The Shadow Of Apple

As a sophomore at USC, I took my first advertising class. It was a class designed to teach the fundamentals of the industry and how an agency worked. As part of that, we spent a lot of time viewing and critiquing commercials. 

One of the first ads that my professor showed us was Apple's Super Bowl classic "1984."

At the time, I remember thinking that it was the most amazing ad I had ever seen. It was beautiful and cinematic and so much more epic than the normal commercial or even the normal Super Bowl commercial. I've seen it many times since then and it still gives me goosebumps.

Of course, I know that I'm not alone in thinking that this is the greatest Super Bowl ad to ever be produced. And ahead of the big game yesterday, Bart Cleveland of AdAge wrote a great piece questioning if the ad industry can ever top "1984." 

His point is that "1984", the spot conceived by TBWA\Chiat\Day and directed by Ridley Scott, was a leap in terms of advertising and until brands are ready to take big risks again, no one will get close to this classic.

What do you think? Is "1984" the greatest Super Bowl commercial of all time?

Learn how this commercial almost didn't happen from Lee Clow, Chief Creative Officer of TBWA Worldwide >>