Vote different? John McAfee ‘borrows’ from Apple in presidential bid

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John McAfee at DefCon 2014.
Here's to the crazy ones...
Photo: NullSession/Flickr CC

Having developed the world’s first commercial antivirus software, John McAfee now wants to clean the malware out of politics — and he’s using one of Apple’s most iconic advertising mantras to do so.

Libertarian presidential candidate McAfee’s new ad encourages American citizens to “Vote Different,” and uses the same verbiage as Apple’s famous “Think Different” ads from 1997. But it features footage of figures like Ron Paul, Aaron Schwartz, Jeffrey Tucker, Peter Thiel and Elon Musk instead of the historical figures in Apple’s ad.

Is it enough to take him into the White House? Check it out below to make up your own mind!

Would Steve Jobs support John McAfee for president?

“Steve Jobs would have wanted his words to change not just technology, but politics itself,” McAfee told Forbes contributor Steve Morgan. “I hope he would have seen this for what it is. In some small way, Steve Jobs has changed the face of campaign videos, through me. I loved him.

“Steve Jobs was a friend and mentor whom I miss more than I can say,” McAfee continued. “His exquisitely beautiful soliloquy — to the crazy ones — touched my heart when I first heard it, and now, years later its meaning is deeper and more profound. I chose it as the theme for my campaign video, hoping that if Steve were still alive he would approve of his words being used to address the disaffected of this great nation, in the hopes of galvanizing the public behind the sentiments that Jobs so eloquently expressed — liberty, individuality and human dignity.”

McAfee’s most recent interaction with Apple came when he offered to help the FBI crack the iPhone 5c at the heart of the San Bernardino shooting case. In an open letter regarding Tim Cook’s decision to deny the FBI request, McAfee offered up the services of a crack team of hackers — saying that the job would only take three weeks.

There’s no evidence from McAfee’s ad that it was produced with the support of Apple itself. The company presumably owns the rights to the verbiage used, which was penned by copywriter Rob Siltanen. In terms of which presidential candidate has the support of Apple’s employees, all evidence points to Bernie Sanders, who received a large proportion of his funds from Apple and other tech workers.

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