See the Mac Commercial Apple Deemed “Too Self-Congratulatory”

Original Mac team member Andy Hertzfeld has posted a video (embedded below) that was originally intended to be used for a Macintosh commercial, but was canned because the company deemed it “too self-congratulatory” at the time, according to Mr. Hertzfeld. Filmed 29 years ago in the run-up to the device’s debut, the video features interviews with original Mac team members talking about what they were trying to achieve.

Andy Hertzfeld & the Original Mac 128K

Original Mac 128K
Credit: Image published under Wikimedia Commons

Mr. Hertzfeld posted the video to YouTube and then linked to it on his Google+ account (and noted by 9to5Mac). According to that post, “Here’s a rare commercial for the original Macintosh that Chiat-Day made in the fall of 1983 , featuring snippets from interviews of the design team. It never aired because Apple deemed it too self-congratulatory, although it was used in some promotional materials sent to dealers.”

The video features Burrell Smith, Hardware Wizard - Hardware, who said that the, “Mac is a big extension of who we think we are, and where we think we’re going. That’s why we designed this product.”

Andy Hertzfeld, Software Wizard - Macintosh, added, “We set out to capture the greatness of Lisa in something affordable to individuals, rather than corporations.” The Lisa introduced at US$9,995.” The original Mac (a.k.a. as the Mac 128K) was introduced for $2,495.

Other team members in the video include George Crow, Manager analog Design - Macintosh, the legendary Bill Atkinson, Apple Fellow, and Mike Murray, Marketing Manager - Macintosh.

It’s a great lens into the past, bad hairstyles, bad fashion, and bad mustaches included.

We should note that the video we’re seeing was clearly not finished for release as a commercial. We should also note that the original Mac couldn’t play videos, even if our mockup suggests otherwise.

Original Macintosh Design Team Interview Snippets