[www.cultofmac.com]

November 8, 1984: When initial Mac sales prove disappointing, Apple CEO John Sculley dreams up the “Test Drive a Macintosh” campaign to encourage people to give the revolutionary new computer a chance.

While 200,000 would-be Apple customers take advantage of the offer, Apple dealers absolutely hate it.

Sculley dreamed up the Test Drive a Macintosh campaign to help skeptical users wrap their heads around Apple’s new machine. Many of them had never seen a graphical user interface, used a mouse, or had much experience with non-IBM computers.

The promotional strategy advised people in possession of a credit card to drop into their local retailer and “borrow” a Macintosh for a period of 24 hours. The idea was that, by the time customers had to return their Mac, they would have built up a bond with it and realized they couldn’t live without one.

Several memorable TV commercials accompanied the Test Drive a Macintosh campaign. One showed what appeared to be the outline of a high-end sports car obscured by a dust cover.

“It’s powerful,” purred the narrator with fetishistic admiration, as the camera took in all the curves and smooth edges hidden underneath the sheet. “It’s responsive. It handles beautifully. And it’ll blow the doors off anything else in its class.”

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

I never heard of this - I didn't get my first apple until 1993.

Must have been an absolute disaster for retailers. Can you imagine just going along in your biz and then you hear that the BIG BOSS just did this?

One of my neighbors went in on that deal, first time I ever saw or got my hands on a Mac. Me and my buddies promptly took it over for several hours after he (one of the dads) brought it home. I think we used MacPaint to redraw the Ghostbusters logo.

He didn't buy one, though. Back to the Apple II and Wizardry the next day...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2020 02:17PM by Will Collier.

I desperately wanted to by that first Mac but I didn't have enough money, so I started saving up for one. I did buy the Fat Mac (512k) but the MacPlus came out a week later so I swapped it out for the Plus.

I'm so glad I did. I wouldn't have been able to get anything creative done with the previous ones. The Plus lasted me 5 years until I bought the first LC, which was way underpowered, so I used my stock from my job to buy a IICi, which was THE COMPUTER I NEEDED! That bad boy changed my life and career. The power. "I conquer you Quark Xpress."

I have no recollection of this campaign, either, and don't think I've ever even heard it mentioned before. A Mac at that price point was not in the cards (got my first Mac Plus in September '86) but I'm surprised I didn't notice that offer.

At the time I was a junior in high school using my VIC-20 and its 3.5kB of RAM for...not much. Games and typing in those programs from COMPUTE! Magazine. Man, that cassette tape drive was a POS.