I saw Apple, Inc.’s “Think Different” commercial just the other day and I love it. It encourages you look within yourself to do better, do more, BE more. Using the narrative “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” and featuring images of individuals who left an indelible mark on our world’s history, including Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart and John Lennon, this ad pay homage to those who, though some thought them crazy, achieved greatness in their own respects. The simple use of black and white archival video with voice over elicits feelings of nostalgia and, for me, hope. Hope that this world will embrace “the crazy ones, the misfits, the round pegs in the square holes”.
Because I work for a nonprofit specializing in education and therapies for children with special needs, I see people every day who believe that anything is possible. They are the ones who “see things differently”, who “change things”. Even further, you will not see a product in this spot. It was not pushing Apple’s latest, greatest invention. It was simply sharing the message that “misfits, troublemakers, ones who have no use for the status quo” are those who make the biggest impact. Simple, thought-provoking, moving. That is what makes this spot so effective. And I for one agree that, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who usually do.”
