Atari – Get Started Apple wasn't the only computer marketer in Super Bowl XVIII: Atari and IBM ran spots alongside"1984."All used very different strategies.Charlie Moss, then creative director at Atari agency Wells Rich Greene, later recalled to Ad Age the campaign that began with this commercial:Some time before WRG was chosen as the agency for Atari computer Steve Ross, chairman of the parent company Warner Communications, recruited Alan Alda.Reports estimated that the actor had signed a 10 year contract worth several million dollars to be Atari’s spokesman.WRG had no say in the matter having been assigned the account after the fact, but as it turned out it was an excellent choice. Alda was genuinely enthusiastic about the product and even before we shot one spot knew more about the technical aspects of computing than the people in the agency -- and even most of the clients.Once the agency started to work on the account we had about two months to formulate a strategy, create commercials, get them approved by our client and then approved by Alan who had the last word.We worked very hard to find Alda’s “voice” for each spot, incorporating his charm and personality in a series of commercials communicating the many things you could do with an Atari computer. (Most people at that time thought that all a computer was good for was typing and spreadsheets.)But before we rolled out the campaign we wanted to reassure our potential customers about the ease of setting up and operating the machine, which in those days was still seen as a scary proposition to the uninitiated.Hence the “Get started” spot, which if memory serves may have been suggested by Alan Alda himself.Because of the nature of the commercials it was easy to package a group of spots and shoot them all in a few days. As I recall we had no trouble with producing “Get started” because our star was so familiar with the product.Moss said he didn't view Apple or IBM as direct competition. "Atari computer was an extension of the Atari game division, which was far and away the big money maker for Atari at that time," he said. "We were positioning the Atari computer as something kids could use to get into computing and as a learning device. Apple and IBM were more sophisticated -- and a lot more expensive."Director: Stan Dragoti. Creative director: Charlie Moss.BRAND:AtariYEAR:1984AGENCY:Wells Rich GreeneSUPERBOWL:XVIII