It has been called the best Super Bowl commercial of all-time and certainly could rank as one of the most effective advertisements in history — for without it, the company might not even exist.

Today, Apple's [ AAPL 252.17  +1.84 (+0.74%) ]"1984," which introduced the Macintosh to the world is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Here's a look at this classic spot than ran during Super Bowl XVIII on Jan. 22, 1984.

The ad, which was produced by Chiat/Day, directed by Ridley Scott (fresh off Blade Runner) and alluded to George Orwell's "1984," has a great story behind it. For that, we went to Mike Murray, who was marketing manager of the Macintosh at the time.

Darren: What was the goal of the ad?

Murray: There was certainly the need for something revolutionary. That's what we were looking for to announce and introduce the Mac. And we obviously had the year "1984" and the George Orwell novel to go along with it.

Darren: The commercial was certainly seen as a risk at the time. What was the reaction internally before the spot ran?

Murray: The Apple board very clearly instructed us to never show that commercial and to sell the time (one 60-second spot and one 30-second spot) that we had purchased on the Super Bowl.

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