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Steve Jobs played FDR in internal Apple corporate video

A WWII-themed corporate video from 1984 features a cameo from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs playing the role of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as he leads Apple troops against the "blue blob" IBM.

The 9-minute video was made in-house for an international sales meeting in Hawaii and reportedly made its way to website Network World through Craign Elliott, a previous Apple employee and current CEO of cloud computing startup Pertino Networks.

A supposed follow-up to the famous "1984" Macintosh ad, "1944" cost $50,000 to produce and features hired actors as well as Apple employees like Mike Murray who was vice president of marketing at the time.

In the film, a rag-tag band of Apple soldiers are fighting against IBM in a David vs. Goliath battle that is likened to the U.S. infiltration and subsequent victory over Axis forces during WWII. The criticism that Macintosh lacked software was lampooned, with Bill Gates mentioned as a purported supporter of the Apple movement.

The hammer-throwing character from the iconic "1984" commercial also makes a brief appearance as she opens a crate full of software that spills onto the ground to be picked up and used as "ammo" for by the Allies.


Steve Jobs plays FDR in Apple in-house video. | Source: Network World

A narrator ends the film in a style reminiscent of 1940's-era news flashes:

"And so the Fighting 32nd begins its rendezvous with destiny. The battle will be long, and it will be hard, but it will be won. For the commandoes of the Fighting 32nd have on their side the most powerful weapon on Earth: an idea whose time has come."