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Santorum goes all Apple 1984 with new ad

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum goes back to the future with a new political ad based on Apple's famous 1984 Superbowl commercial.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
Santorum 1984 video still
It's hard to ignore the similarities with Apple's iconic ad. Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

I never expected to write "Santorum," "Apple," and "1984" together in the same blog post, but here you go.

Apple fans (and anybody else even vaguely familiar with the history of commercials) will recognize a whole lot of vintage Macintosh-inspired marketing coming from Santorum's latest anti-Mitt Romney ad.

woman in Santorum ad
This heroine is not as scantily-clad as the one from the original ad. (Click to enlarge.) Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

The video is titled "Rebellion." There's no doubt the Santorum ad is quoting from the original Apple endeavor. It features marching people wearing gray while authority figures bark slogans in the background and Romney's talking head glitches out like Max Headroom.

Instead of a woman in short-shorts with a big hammer, you get a woman hauling a "Santorum for President" political sign that she flips over to display a video of Santorum sharing his conservative views.

Santorum does manage to squeeze in a quick clip of some baby-hugging near the end. This is a political ad, after all.

I'm not sure Santorum is really trying to go after the Apple fanboy demographic here, but he is harnessing the power of an iconic marketing creation. Unfortunately, we'll never know what Steve Jobs might have thought about it.

YouTube comments have been disabled for the video. Otherwise, I expect I'd be quoting some gems. You'll just have to share your thoughts in the comments section below. How do you feel about the iconic Apple ad being rejiggered for political purposes?

(Via The Atlantic)