Activity 3: Steve Jobs and the American Dream

1. Read two short blog posts:

Text 1
Steve Jobs: Embodiment of the American Dream
Steve Jobs represents the American Dream perfectly because he was born
into a not-so-privileged life yet pulled himself up and became something
grand. The American Dream is all about taking the opportunities you are
given and using them to grow better and stronger until you make a name for
yourself. Steve Jobs did just this!
Text 2
The Feb. 15, 1982, cover of TIME
Steve Jobs Achieves the American Dream
I think that Steve Jobs achieved the American dream because of what he
accomplished in life. Jobs transformed the world into the technological empire that we see today. Jobs’ early
life was very inconsistent and very chaotic just to make ends meet and have food to eat. Jobs then went on to
create a technological empire which he ultimately dominated. This is why I think that Steve Jobs achieved the
American dream. The American dream
is centered around wealth, fame, success and happiness. Jobs obviously achieved at least three of these with
wealth, success and fame.

2. Right or wrong? Justify briefly with your own words.

a. He led a very easy life in his early years.
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b. Steve Jobs seized all the opportunities that were offered to him.
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c. He went from rags to riches.
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d. He was the embodiment of failure.
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e. He epitomized the American Dream.
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Activity 5: Two case studies

Elements of your management syllabus and analysis:
In a very competitive environment and where differentiation is crucial, the question of identifying and
choosing the strategic options of the organization arises, not to mention the impacts of digital technologies
which are increasingly taken into account in the development of these strategic choices.
For example, advertising differentiation aims to make known the real or supposed differences of a product vis-
a-vis those of the competition and its constraints. This differentiation strategy offers a unique and inimitable
product! Steve Jobs took the plunge with the advertising campaign called Think different.
1. Think different!
a. Watch the video and try to identify as many people as possible.
Apple’s Think Different advertising campaign. 1997, Full version.

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b. Listen again and find the missing words in the voiceover transcript of the 60-second Here’s to the Crazy
Ones spot narrated by Steve Jobs himself in 1997:
troublemakers / enough / crazy / differently / quote / genius
“Here’s to the ……………….…ones. The misfits. The rebels. The…………..………... The round pegs in the
square holes. The ones who see things…………….…… . They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for
the status quo. You can ………………..….them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing
you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some
may see them as the crazy ones, we see………………….…… . Because the people who are crazy…………………
to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
c. List the adjectives and nouns referring to famous people in the transcript. Are they generally positive or
negative?
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d. List the verbs describing these people’s actions. Are the actions generally positive or negative?
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e. Compare your answers to c. and d. What do you notice?
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f. Select one or two famous people you have identified in the video. Can you explain why their image is
used to illustrate the apparent contradiction? (100 words).
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g. Who does “we” stand for in “we see genius”?
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h. What is the intended message behind the young girl opening her eyes at the end of the commercial?
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i. There is something particularly unusual about this commercial. Have you noticed it?
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j. There is a question that has been puzzling you, the question of the difference between Think different
and Think differently. You publish a blog post to try to get an answer.
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k. Recap. Present the Apple commercial and its advertising strategy orally.
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2. 1984 won’t be like “1984”

It’s a fact that advertising often uses utopia, dreams and myths to praise a product or service. Their
opposites, namely dystopia and its alter ego, the bad dream, can also be used in order to reinforce
differentiation. Hell is other people…
What sells is utopia and yet advertising is increasingly tending towards dystopia. Brands thus rely on
dystopian presentations of the competitor to sell their own products and services as a virtuous solution:
1984 was the best example of this and Steve Jobs took the plunge once again with this advertising
campaign.
a. Watch the video: 1984 Apple's Macintosh Commercial
b. Describe the commercial.
1. Who? (social class, political regime, relationship?) Try to describe facial expressions, body language,
clothing…
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2. When? (present or future)
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3. Where? (architecture, purpose of the building?)
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4. What? (action, situation, relationship, context).
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Use your answers to questions 1 to 5 to describe the commercial orally (1 to 2 minutes).
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