The Power to be Your Best mousepad (c. 1986)

This mousepad was likely released around the same time as Apple released the mid-1980s TV commercial with the tagline, “The Power to Be Your Best.” 

The commercial features a man standing behind a window pensively looking at office workers wondering which computer is most powerful. A co-worker suggests that the answer can be found in system specifications, but the man concludes, “I think the most powerful computer is the one that people actually use.” A voiceover ends with the multicolor Apple logo and the words, “Macintosh, the power to be your best.”

This white mousepad doesn’t quite deliver on the ideal of “the best” because the “T” in the tagline at the top is in a different font (a sans serif font) than the rest of the phrase, “The power to be your best.” (Although this may be an intentional design choice.) In addition, the tagline font is not Apple’s corporate font of the time, Apple Garamond, and clashes with the font below it.

The lower-left corner features a large multicolor Apple logo and the logotype Apple Computer, Inc. (Apple’s official company name from 1977 until 2007 when it dropped “Computer” from its moniker).

This mousepad is 9 inches wide, 7.75 inches tall, and 0.25 inches thick. The mousepad has rounded edges and uses a thick, black, textured rubber pad. The bottom is also printed with the manufacturing company, COMPUTER EXPRESSIONS, Philadelphia, PA. 

Source: YouTube

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