1984

From the 30th Anniversary Issue of Adweek, by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners co-chairman Jeff Goodby, regarding the best commercial of the 1980s:

No one writing about the ’80s could skip the Apple “1984” commercial. It changed the way we’ve approached not just the Super Bowl but all big-event advertising. It also showed that you could use a fairly obscure story from a book only English majors had read to make spectacular advertising. But although it was influential, it only ran once.

(Emphasis mine)

Really? George Orwell’s 1984 is a “fairly obscure story” that “only English majors” have read?

I mean, I know advertisers don’t read anything but books by other advertisers, but come on.