Apple '1984' ad gets political makeover

Whether Apple Inc. likes it or not, its classic "1984" Macintosh television ad, which aired only during the Super Bowl that year, has been reincarnated with a political veneer and is becoming one of the latest hits on Google Inc.'s YouTube.

A copy of the original commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, has been remade into a satirical attack piece against presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, replacing the Big Brother figure with the Democratic senator from New York instead. It then ends with a message supporting her opponent Sen. Barack Obama and a fruity Apple-like logo that has been converted into an "O." The woman runner in the commercial has also been modified so that she's wearing an iPod.

The creator of the so-called online video mash-up was identified Wednesday as Philip de Vellis, a strategist who worked with a digital consulting company that has ties to Obama. The Illinois senator's campaign has denied being behind the ad.

Regardless, the 74-second clip is gaining plenty of attention, surging to nearly 1.5 million views over the past two days.

Apple, known to be a fierce guardian of its intellectual property, could consider suing over copyright or trademark infringement, legal experts say, though its success wouldn't be guaranteed.

The Cupertino-based Macintosh and iPod maker could argue that viewers would misconstrue that the political ad was done with Apple's blessing, or that Apple was expressing support for Obama, said Erica Klein, an attorney with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

But an infringement claim in this case wouldn't be strong, Douglas Masters, a partner at Loeb & Loeb, said, citing how the courts have ruled that such ads are protected under fair-use provisions.

"Political speech gets a lot more deference than commercial speech," Masters said.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment on the video or whether Apple would take any legal action.