client: Apple
improvement: Think Disillusioned
date: April 28, 1989
creative director: Blank DeCoverly | marketing coordinator: Jack Napier | production: Conrad Hoc, Salty Dog, Mathew
PRESS RELEASE
The struggling Cupertino-based computer manufacturer recently bounced back to record quarterly profits, thanks in large part to its high-profile “Think Different” campaign, featuring inspirational dead people and a few lucky live ones like the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s beloved spiritual leader in exile.
We applaud Apple’s bold exploitation of these heroes, living and dead, and celebrate its decision to pay an honorarium to the Lama’s Trust, a non-profit foundation dedicated to buying back Tibetan real estate from the Chinese government, one parcel at a time. Thanks in large part to the personal intervention of Apple acting-CEO Steve Jobs, along with Beastie Boy Adam Yauch and actor-activist Richard Gere, the Lama’s trust is on the verge of closing its first transaction, securing limited title to 3 prime hectares of high-altitude mining waste.