In 1997, Apple was in crisis. After years of declining market share, financial losses, and a loss of direction, the company brought back its visionary co-founder, Steve Jobs. One of his first and most symbolic acts wasn’t a product launch—it was a story. That story was told through the now-iconic Think Different campaign.
Created by ad-agency TBWA\Chiat\Day —led by Lee Clow, a longtime Jobs collaborator—the campaign sought to restore Apple’s identity and soul. Jobs knew that before Apple could sell computers, it had to remind people what it stood for. The result was a poetic 60-second television spot called “Here’s to the Crazy Ones.”
Narrated by Jobs himself in the original internal cut (though Richard Dreyfuss voiced the aired version), the commercial wasn’t about products. It didn’t mention features or specs. Instead, it celebrated the rebels, the misfits, the troublemakers—those “crazy enough to think they can change the world.” Black-and-white footage of 20th-century visionaries—Einstein, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Amelia Earhart, Picasso—flashed across the screen, paired with the haunting piano of Philip Glass. The final frame bore only the Apple logo and the words: Think Different.
Jobs was deeply involved in shaping the tone and feel of the campaign. He rejected early drafts that lacked emotional resonance and helped edit the script himself. When he previewed the ad to Apple employees, many wept. It wasn’t just a commercial—it was a declaration of Apple’s rebirth.
Critically and culturally, the campaign was a sensation. It won an Emmy, a Grand Effie, and is still regarded as one of the greatest ads of all time. But more than awards, Think Different reestablished Apple’s brand as a force for creativity, nonconformity, and bold thinking. It laid the emotional foundation for the revolutionary products that would follow: the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and beyond.
For Steve Jobs, the ad wasn’t just a comeback—it was a mirror of his own story. A man once ousted from the company he founded, now back, defiant, visionary, and still thinking different.
“Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.”
In The Spirit of Adventure, The Guide
