Find out how MT Rainey persuaded Steve Jobs to run ‘1984’ Super Bowl ad
The Drum has got its hands on a collection of unpublished films from the School of Communication Arts (SCA) that profile industry titans. Among them is an interview with legendary media planner MT Rainey, who tells the story of how she persuaded Steve Jobs to run the 1984 Apple Macintosh Super Bowl TV commercial. It will be available to view on thedrum.com later today.
A few years back the SCA produced a documentary series titled Creative Leads, but the films were never made public and have sat gathering dust ever since.
Dug back out and brought up to date by The Drum, they will finally get airtime. The series includes interviews with and profiles of MT Rainey, Alexandra Taylor, Sir John Hegarty and Tony Brignull.
Marc Lewis, dean of the SCA, explains: “A few years ago, our students made a documentary about the late, great John Webster. It’s a wonderful piece of work, and it was only made possible because Patrick Collister was smart enough to record interviews with Webster before he passed, which we edited into our film.
“Then I took Tony Brignull to watch a game at his beloved Arsenal, nearly 70 years after he had started going there as a boy. Tony’s eyesight was starting to fail and it became obvious to me that he wouldn’t be around forever. Patrick was smart enough to record Webster. We needed to record Tony.
“From there, it became our intention to make films about legends of advertising, so that students in 20 years’ time can learn from their brilliance and be inspired by their journeys.”
To coincide with Super Bowl weekend, MT Rainey’s film will be released in full today (Friday 11) as we celebrate the woman behind the iconic 1984 Apple Macintosh ad that cemented the Super Bowl as an advertiser showcase.
The half-hour documentary features commentary from the likes of former Channel 4 chief exec David Abraham and Lucky Generals boss Andy Nairn.
“MT had really flare for understanding what clients wanted, both commercially and culturally, and then selling the strategies in light of that,” says one talking head. “The thing about MT is that you had to raise your game and that’s the mark of a true leader,” says another.
Rainey also tells her side of the story, reflecting on the evolution of the ad from the pitch to Steve Jobs to investors blocking the project.
See the preview above and stay tuned to thedrum.com to find out how you can watch it in full.