Audrianna Chappell
Major: Kinesiology
Fun Fact: like to sing!
Talia Putman
Major: Soon to be Psychology
Fun Fact: Was vegetarian for four years.
Jean Baudrillard's 1981 novel called Simulacra and Simulation talked about his examination between the relationships of reality, symbols, and society. Baudrillard describes the simulacra as being a representation of an original thing that no longer exists, while he describes the simulation as the “hyperreal” where we depend on mostly symbols and mistake them as reality. When talking about the media, both Baudrillard’s idea of simulation and simulacra play a huge role in the reality of the advertisements.
William Gibson was heavily influenced by Jean Beaudrillard resulting in him having similar beliefs and theories regarding the real vs unreal, the hyperreal, and simulation. In regards to his book Neuromancer, which was written and published during the 80s, he displays his theories about the hyperreal in his writing. He does this via his characters specifically one of the main characters, Case, which was a computer hacker and was able to go into the hyperreal with his mind.
In 1981, the first case of AIDs was reported in the United States. AIDs is a life-threatening disease that slowly interferes with your body's immune system to fight infections and diseases, making the disease incurable. The AIDs Education Campaign released an advertisement with "True Love" as the campaign slogan to try and advertise the purchase of latex condoms. Rather than scaring consumers with the harsh reality of AIDs, they use the use of condoms as a distraction from the reality of what could happen if you do not use condoms.
The walkman was arguably the kick start of the technology boom in the 80s. Skeptics believed that it would not sell because of its high price, about $150 at the time. However, according to a journalist, Edward Baig wrote, " that first Walkman became a blockbuster hit, selling 50,000 devices in two months," (Baig). Not only was this device record breaking in number, but also revolutionized the standards for portable music. Baig quoted this from technology historian Stewart Wolpin, " “It was the size of a transistor radio but was so much easier to carry than previous tape-based portables. And more importantly, it came with stereo headphones designed for music, not that mono earpiece for the transistor radio. The music sounded like you’d brought your home stereo with you, and it was yours and yours only." (Baig).
What do you believe was going on in the time of the release of the Macintosh computer to lead to Apple creating an ad like this?
What does the “Heroine” and the people viewing the film symbolize?
In 1984 Apple released their announcement that they will introduce the first Macintosh, the first mouse-driven computer. At the time of the release, there was only HP and IBM was becoming one of Apple's top competitors. This was the first technological change that allowed individuals freedom of choice when it came to using their technological products.
Baig, Edward C. “Before Apple IPods and IPhones, There Was Sony Walkman. 40 Years of Portable Music.” USA Today, 1 July 2019, sonoma.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.sonoma.idm.oclc.org/docview/2249659993?accountid=13949.
Baudrillard, Jean, and Sheila Faria Glaser. Simulacra and Simulation. Univ. of Michigan Press, 2019.
Friedman, Ted. "Apple’s 1984: the introduction of the Macintosh in the cultural history of personal computers." Society for the History of Technology Convention. 1997.Apple Ad
Gibson, William. Neuromancer:. Penguin Putnam, 1984.
Mark Toncar, and James Munch. “Consumer Responses to Tropes in Print Advertising.” Journal of Advertising, vol. 30, no. 1, 2001, pp. 55–65. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4189170. Accessed 17 Nov. 2020.
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