Before 1984 the only time I enjoyed seeing a hammer thrown was by The Mighty Thor in Marvel comics. But early that year I had a new love, the sexy, heroine in Apple’s ‘1984’ commercial for its brand spanking new Macintosh. The commercial’s only paid national broadcast of note was January 22 during the Superbowl, but it was replayed during several national news shows and won awards for its creativity. Advertising Age named it the 1980s commercial of the decade.

Interesting guerilla marketing note courtesty of Wikipedia): The ad agency Chiat/Day ran the commercial (directed by Ridley Scott) one other time, December 15, 1983 on KMVT in Twin Falls, Idaho, so that it could be submitted to award ceremonies for that year.

Unnamed at the time, Anya Major was the actress who rebelliously throws the hammer at the screen of a “Big Brother” authority figure as the narrator intones: “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.”

Few people thought the Mac would last this long. In fact, after Steve Jobs left Apple to start NeXT in the late 1980s, I remember a press event where he discussed how all platforms experience a kind of glide slope; they peak in popularity and stay there a few years longer based essentially on momentum, until the next great technology comes along. The Mac had reached its peak, in Jobs view, and the NeXT era was fast approaching.

Which only goes to prove Jobs isn’t the genius everyone makes him out to be, right?

Well, not exactly. Jobs rejoined a floundering Apple in 1996 after showing its board of directors how the company could advance the Mac by infusing it with NeXT’s software. Apple promptly did just that after buying NeXT and bringing Steve Jobs back to the company he co-founded.

So it’s been quite a 25 years for Macintosh. Take a bow Hammer Girl, the Mac is still swinging.