This article was published on December 29, 2011

You have to watch this: Apple’s 1984 Ghostbusters parody [Video]


You have to watch this: Apple’s 1984 Ghostbusters parody [Video]

Over twenty years ago, Apple started collating all of its old documents, books, software, videotapes and marketing materials with the intention of opening an Apple museum.

However, in 1997 — a time when Steve Jobs reprised his role as CEO at the company — plans were shelved and Apple officials contacted curators at Stanford University, offering to donate the collection to the school’s Silicon Valley Archives. After a couple of days, Stanford curators were at Apple HQ loading two moving trucks full of Apple’s old materials.

The collection now stands as the largest collection of Apple historical materials.

Whilst the Associated Press reports on the collection, which is hosted at a non-disclosed location, some of the materials stored at the warehouse have already been shared on the Web, but haven’t been found by many.

That includes a parody video recorded by Apple for its 1984 International Sales Meeting which spoofs the popular film Ghostbusters, with an Apple twist.

“Blue Busters” as the video is entitled, is a company advert which targeted its major rival at the time, IBM, which has always been referred to as “Big Blue”. The AP reports that Jobs is present in the video but all we can make out is Steve Wozniak near the end — take a look:

YouTube user MajorKahuna comments that he was at the event:

I was there in Oct. 1984. This was not an internal ad. I was a 1984 state of the art multimedia slide show with audio by Ray Parker Jr. who sang the original. There were also live dancers on the stage.

This was the opening presentation of the International Sales Meeting that introduced the Lightwriter later renamed Laserwriter.

Apple always used a current movie as a them for the sales meetings. in 1985 it was Back to the Future.

We knew that Steve Jobs’ Apple was fiercely competitive with IBM, as noted in Walter Isaacson’s biography, but this video shows just how much.

Apple also released an album of music in the 80s, The Apple Boogie.

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