Monks ("Brother Dominic")
Xerox1977
Monks ("Brother Dominic") is a 1977 television commercial for Xerox, created by Needham, Harper & Steers.
The line
It's a miracle!
Why it works
The ad that proved the Super Bowl could launch a product story, seven years before Apple's "1984." Monk Brother Dominic, asked to produce 500 more copies of an illuminated manuscript, slips through a doorway to a Xerox 9200 duplicator and returns with the sets — prompting his superior to gasp, "It's a miracle!" Debuting during Super Bowl XI in 1977, it was described by the Hagley Museum as perhaps the first "viral" Super Bowl commercial. Creator Allen Kay's spot swept the industry's awards — a Cannes Gold Lion among them — entered the Clio Hall of Fame, and was judged by The New York Times one of the top 25 commercials of the 20th century. Xerox brought Brother Dominic back 40 years later, a measure of how completely one character had fused with the brand.
Techniques
- Humour A monk asked for 500 more copies of an illuminated manuscript slips off to a duplicator, and his superior hails the result as a miracle.
- Demonstration Shows the machine turning out hundreds of copies of a manuscript in the time it takes to step through a doorway and back.
- Mascots and characters The monk becomes a character so fused with the brand that he is revived decades later.
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