Gallery: Behind the Scenes From Two Classic Apple TV Ads
1:44 am, November 5th, 2009, Leander Kahney
Is this Steve Jobs driving a tank in a classic Apple TV spot from the late 1990s? That was the rumor at the time: Jobs was making cameos in Apple commercials.
Ken Segall, the TBWA ad man responsible for naming the iMac and Think Different, reveals the truth after the jump. He also shares some rare behind-the-scenes photos he took during the filming of this commercial and another from the same era.
PowerMac G4 Tanks Commercial
The Tanks commercial above referred to the U.S. government’s classification of the first PowerMac G4 as a “weapon.” Thanks to its gigaflop performance (one of the first desktop computers to reach that milestone), it couldn’t be exported to unfriendly foreign powers like China, North Korea and Iraq.
“There was a hot rumor at the time that the tank driver barely visible at spot’s end was actually Steve Jobs,” says Segall. “Untrue, in case you ever heard that one. Steve wasn’t into making Hitchcock-like appearances in his movies 
”
Here’s several photos taken while filming the Tanks commercial showing the director, Mark Coppos, at work. Coppos has directed scores of Apple’s ads.
PowerBook G3 Steamroller commercial
Segall also snapped pictures at a shoot for a PowerBook G3 commercial featuring a steamroller. Representing the awesome power of the G3 chip, the steamroller rolled over several Windows laptops as it “crushed the competition.”
Here’s some technicians prepping one of the laptops to throw off sparks as the steamroller rolls over it.
Getting ready for a closeup.
The competition — an IBM ThinkPad — post crushing.
The trail of tears.
Posted by Leander Kahney in Advertising, Apple, News, Steve Jobs, Top stories | Comment on this article
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