“Think Different” Sloganeer Steps Down: What Will Apple’s Next Iconic Catch Phrase Be?

Nicole Martinelli ()

Lee Clow, the man behind Apple’s groundbreaking 1997 “Think Different” campaign and chief creative officer of  Chiat announced he is stepping down.

Here the jeans and base-ball cap wearing Clow, now 66, is interviewed about the days he was the only ad guy not wearing a three-piece suit — by Alex Bogusky, the Mac-using brainchild behind Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunter’s” series, which has been poking a few holes into the sometimes tired “Mac vs. PC” ads.

Apple abandoned the “Think Different” campaign in 2002 for the  “switch” concept, but it never really caught up with Clow’s creation.

We stand corrected:  Ken Segall, former Chiat creative director on the Apple account wrote in to say:

“Lee is/was the chief creative officer at Chiat, and as such doesn’t actually create this stuff — he’s an inspiration and ultimately responsible for the output. Interestingly, the words “think different” were actually written by an art director. His name is Craig Tanimoto. Not bad for a guy whose first responsibility was design.

Also, Think different was not replaced by the Switcher campaign. At some point (I can’t even remember when), it was decided that the “think different” words simply didn’t need to be said anymore. They became more or less embodied in the brand. This, just as Nike dropped “Just do it” and started using only the company’s famous swoosh.”

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Interview: The Man Who Named the iMac and Wrote Think Different

What do you think Apple’s next iconic catch phrase should be?

Via 9to5 Mac, Mediapost

26 comments »

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

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  • Adam

    Apple. That’s How.

    How do you make a home movie in an afternoon? Or find music that matches your style? Or phone a friend and don’t have to ask how to get there?

    Apple. That’s How.

    How do you stay more productive than PC users at the office? How do you do things right first time? Or you get your TV programmes streamed to you?

    Apple. That’s How.

  • Ian

    It works. It plays. It’s Apple.

  • Giogio

    “Work Different”

    “Be Different”

    “Be Mac”

    “Mac and You”

    “How Mac are You”

    “Mac Your Life”

    Perhaps the last one is the best, better if I stop it here.

  • Scott

    “Be Amazing”

  • Peter Hansen

    I like the idea of celebrities going “My name is [whatever] and I’m Apple” in a simplistic commercial — it shouldn’t be too hard to convince celebrities to do the commercials as 90% of them use Apple products ..

  • JS

    “Why be the nail when you can be the hammer?”

  • Tim

    “Think Cheaper”

  • b.mandic

    Ok…but? What about posted slogan copyright?
    Get real competition.

  • ryan

    “An Apple a day keeps Microsoft away.”

    “Once you got Mac, you’ll never go back.”

    “Use a Mac, or i’ll beat you #$%@$ face in.”

  • Ken

    (A picture of two computer users. The Mac user is smiling, the PC user is harried, banging his fist on the desk, “Why won’t it work? Why won’t it work?”)

    “The Mac… less bang for your buck.”

  • JYC

    “Mac!”

  • http://www.toxicspark.com Andrew Macdonald

    Im currently liking Ryan’s: “Once you got Mac, you’ll never go back.”

  • MrJones

    “Suck it Microsoft, SUCK IT!”

  • Chris

    Whatever Apple chooses as their next slogan, please let it use good grammar this time around. “Think Different” should have a been “Think Differently.” As a grammarian/rhetorician, it’s sad to see a dynamic, innovative company like Apple make such a basic mistake. I read at some point that Apple knew this was an error, but chose to go ahead and use the slogan anyway. If so, they’re doing the public a real disservice.

  • YodaMac

    Apple… We’ve upped our standards! Now up yours!

    :)

  • http://www.zoomata.com Nicole Martinelli

    LOLing, to all of them. Thanks guys.

  • Church of Apple

    I’m seconding “Mac Your Life”
    It’s proactive and it sounds like “Mac the Knife”
    =D

  • CaryMG

    “Apple Is A Good Computer”.

  • Buck

    @Chris, you beat me to it “Think Differently” :D

    Might as well stay with the poor grammar theme.

    “Be Differently”

  • Bob Loblaw

    “Let Apple pick your pocket and rip you off”

  • Hack

    Ironic that you have a video of Alex Bogusky, head of CP+B, Microsoft Windows agency of record, interviewing Clow.

  • http://www.kevra.org/TheBestOfNext/index.html Kevin Ford

    With most computer OS’s providing all the capabilities we need: email, instant messaging, web browsers, music players, DVD players, etc. plus a pile of third party offerings, the most important feature is not new features, just stability.

    It should work all the time, without fear of viruses, with the 5 nine’s availability (99.999% up time) we take for granted in our land line telephones.

    The new slogan should be an old one from Steve when he was talking about NeXT Computers:

    “It just works”

    which infers: It just works, as you would expect, whenever you want it without a lot of fuss.

    Stability before new features!

  • Adam

    Apple. Insanely great.

  • king

    A computer for the rest of us

  • http://techshaz.blogspot.com Shrinidhi Shastri

    Apple Inc.
    - Attractively Yours!

  • http://www.vncomputer.org/ Linda

    Microsoft ROCKS!!! I feel so bad when people say bad things about microsoft! Apple looks like a toy, and Microsoft is the best!