Steve Jobs Wanted To Pull A Willy Wonka, Golden Ticket And All

Sure, the late Steve Jobs had a temper and a serious obsession with perfection, but that doesn't mean Apple's co-founder and former CEO didn't like to have some fun, too.

Ken Segall's newly released biography, "Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success," reveals one of Jobs' more playful ideas: He wanted to celebrate the one millionth purchase of the original iMac, Willy Wonka-style.

"Just as Wonka did in the movie, Steve wanted to put a golden certificate representing the millionth iMac inside the box of one iMac, and publicize that fact," writes Segall, according to The Huffington Post's copy of the book. "Whoever opened the lucky iMac box would be refunded the purchase price and be flown to Cupertino, where he or she (and, presumably, the accompanying family) would be taken on a tour of the Apple campus."

Apparently, Jobs had been completely serious about the idea. He had his internal creative group design an actual prototype of a golden ticket and had even been planning to meet the winner dressed to the nines as Willy Wonka.

Unfortunately, it seems California law got in Jobs' way. MacRumors reports that the state required sweepstakes contests to allow participation without the purchase of a product, meaning that Jobs couldn't limit potential winners to just iMac buyers, or any Apple customers, for that matter.

Business Insider reports that Segall, an ad exec who had worked with Jobs for 12 years, felt the Willy Wonka idea was one of Jobs' "nuttiest."

"He was cool in that he would come into a meeting and say he had this idea, but his ideas didn't always go anywhere," Segall told Business Insider. "The Willy Wonka idea -- and the fact that he wanted to dress up -- was really out of character for him. A lot of people will probably read that story and think it sounds like a pretty good idea."

Read more about Jobs in Ken Segall's "Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success," which just hit shelves on April 26.

What do you think of Jobs' wonky idea? Do you think it would have been successful? Let us know in the comments! But, before you do, make sure to check out a few other fascinating reads about Apple's co-founder by flipping through the slideshow below.

[Hat Tip: Gizmodo]

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Comments

[IroncladMerc]

04:06 PM on 06/19/2012

Steve should have done it by having more than 1 Golden ticket, and have 1 Golden ticket that would only be available to people entering the contest by emailing or writing in. So they'd have a draw for that ticket, and the rest could be put in the iMac boxes. Have 5 or 6, just like in Willy Wonka, not just one winner.

[CaseyComo]

02:47 PM on 05/12/2012

OK, seriously. I worked as a designer at Apple HQ in Cupertino for four years. It's a decent enough office park, with a good cafeteria. Apple has cubicles, fishbowl offices, and conference rooms. It's pretty much like anyplace else, although there are more locks on the doors. And behind those locked doors...more cubicles, more fishbowl offices, and more conference rooms. It's a company, not an alternate universie.

[Noble9]

08:06 AM on 05/04/2012

I can see Steve Jobs having that scary tunnel ride.

[george martini]

01:34 PM on 05/05/2012

If Jobs wanted to pull his Willy Wonka he should have kept it to himself.

[agnosticjihad]

07:04 AM on 05/04/2012

If this is such an amazing, wonderful, genius idea, credit Roald Dahl!

[agnosticjihad]

07:03 AM on 05/04/2012

He could have put the ticket in a box and not publicized it until after it was found. It would have been a big splash. But who wants a golden ticket to tour Apple? Pfui. Charlie inherited the chocolate factory.

[Jonathan Eltgroth]

11:56 AM on 05/03/2012

It would have been cool. Didn't the person who purchased the billionth app on the app store win something? How would this have been any different? Or any different than the McDonald's Monopoly promotion? You have to buy a McDonald's product to play. Strange law, Cali.

[claymanbob]

05:32 PM on 05/03/2012

You didn't have to buy anything from McDonald's. Game pieces were available for free.

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

09:17 AM on 04/30/2012

Based on the ridiculous laws stating you don't have to pruchase a particular product to be able to participate in the company's sweetstakes, shouldn't I be able to just fill out random rebate forms for products I didn't purchase to get the money?

[claymanbob]

05:33 PM on 05/03/2012

Rebates are not part of a sweepstakes.

[Angie Cordeiro]

04:07 PM on 04/29/2012

We all want Oompa-Loompas ;-)

[msholl6002]

08:54 AM on 04/29/2012

The idea was phenomanal and Steve Job's was a certified genius

[SublimeAntithesis]

07:17 PM on 04/29/2012

At marketing, without a doubt...

[agnosticjihad]

07:04 AM on 05/04/2012

It's an ordinary idea. He was a genius of sorts, though.

[KalNJ]

08:18 AM on 04/29/2012

Honestly - I think that was a great idea and brilliant marketing.

[hdohighdesertobserver]

12:54 AM on 04/29/2012

I wanted to be Willy Wonka, too, but I took a sip from that mummer wumping chocolate river and got stuck in the pipe to the fudge room. Ach!

[nicknormal]

10:35 PM on 04/28/2012

Why didn't they just run the sweepstakes out of Nevada and drive the winner to Cupertino?

[NixonD]

07:57 PM on 04/28/2012

Would have been awesome!!

...And all of you making a fit about paying dividend lol. ..When a company pays dividend you should be worried!! it means they have nothing good to invest their profits in so they pay it out.. I would much rather they hold on to it, invest in R&D or just hold on to it as cash so they can buy up what ever patents and good ideas come along to better the company. ...in the long run this will yield much more for the stockholders then some 70cent dividend. ...I own two companies by the way with 4 offices in India and I'm a 22 year old American. Get your shit together America before you get left in the dust. I mean it!

[zorkas]

05:56 PM on 04/28/2012

I do believe that he wanted to be a real lfe Willy Wonka . Wily Wonka operated a factory with illegal workers who never recieved a living wage , never were alowed to leave the factory , forced to work long hours without breaks , made to work under dangerous conditions , no benefits , no raises and kept high prices on his products . Yes he is a shining example of what America wil become once the Republicans have thier way and end union protections for workers . But then the simpleminded will vote for the Republicans with no reguard for thier own good . How easily they will be enslaved .

[Ashkewoof]

03:24 PM on 05/29/2012

Brilliant. F&F

[wardropper]

05:40 PM on 04/28/2012

Doesn't EVERYBODY...?