Apple Almost Died

My civic artifact is Apple’s “Think Different” campaign from the late 90s. Upon Steve Jobs’ return to the company, the light was fading. Apple was expected to disappear soon if no change was made. Based on these circumstances and their response, I will examine the campaign through the lenses of rhetorical situation and trust.

For the rhetorical situation, exigence is apparent. Apple was going to die if they didn’t do anything. They picked their audience to be those that already loved their product. They knew they were working in the constraints of Apple haters and they wanted to prioritize their foundation. Their goal was to remind their supportive audience why they chose apple products. This is where the creation of “Think Different” comes to be.

Apples story also calls for the lens of trust. In their campaign, they highlighted multiple influential people from history. From Albert Einstein to Amelia Earhart, and even Ghandi, it became clear that Apple wanted to send a message. They also invoked emotion such as inspiration, signaling pathos. “Here’s to the crazy ones…” They wanted to light that flame in Apple lovers that shared the same passion for doing things outside the box. I’d confidently say that apple wanted to throw logos out the window for this campaign and hit home that deep emotion in their audience.

Their campaign proved effective and it will be fascinating to dive deeper.