Thursday, March 6, 2008

IBM Linux ad: Prodigy


Linux advertisement from IBM, released in September 2003: "The Future is Open"

Both ads were produced by Ogilvy, but this year's version looks more like continuation of Stanley Kubrick's film "2001" than a series of ESPN highlights. Linux has morphed from being a starting player on the IBM team to being the franchise player. It is portrayed in the new ad as a young boy, a prodigy absorbing knowledge from a variety of masters, and making it available to everyone.

Sylvia Nasar, author of "A Beautiful Mind" advises young Linux that "One little thing can solve an incredibly complex problem." Muhammad Ali instructs him to "Speak your mind. Don't back down." John Wooden, the greatest basketball coach of all time, tells him "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that's teamwork.

2 comments:

Larry Cafiero said...

This is one of the all-time great tech ads, rivaling "1984" (and I think surpassing it). Can anyone identify the people in it? There's Muhammad Ali, John Wooden and Penny Marshall -- is the guitar player Joey Ramone (or the guitar playing Ramone)? I'd be interested to know.

lokr said...

Besides the ones you mentioned and the other mentioned in the text (Sylvia Nasar), I only recognize college professor Henry Gates.