What is the most famous Maxell ad?

Written by Editorial Team | Last Updated: August 2026

Maxell's most iconic advertising campaign is the legendary "Blown Away" commercial released in the 1980s. The spot featured a stylish man sitting in a sleek chair, being literally blown backward by an overwhelming surge of high-fidelity sound waves rushing out of a set of speakers connected to a cassette tape.

Related FAQs

The Chief Executive Officer and Representative Director of Maxell, Ltd.

The iconic chair featured in Maxell's legendary "Blown Away" advertisement is a modernist Le Corbusier LC2 armchair (often noted as an LC2 or LC3 club chair).

The iconic "Blown Away" advertisement features minimalist 1980s high-end audio gear, most notably a pair of large acoustic loudspeakers, a turntable, and an amplifier system.

Under optimal storage conditions—away from direct sunlight, extreme heat, and powerful magnetic fields—a quality magnetic audio cassette tape can last anywhere from 30 to 30 years or more.

As the global music and data industries rapidly transitioned from analog cassette tapes and VCR videocassettes to digital compact discs, MP3 players, and cloud storage systems during the late 1990s and 2000s, mass commercial demand for magnetic recor...

The original, highly influential "Blown Away" print and television advertising campaign for Maxell cassette tapes debuted in 1979 and ran extensively throughout the 1980s.

Yes, Maxell is a well-known Japanese brand. Formed originally in 1960 in Osaka, Japan, the company takes its name from a contraction of the phrase "Maximum Capacity Dry Cell".

Maxell batteries are manufactured by Maxell, Ltd., a multinational Japanese corporation headquartered in Tokyo.

The stylish man sitting in the chair in the iconic Maxell "Blown Away" advertisement is Peter Murphy, who later achieved international fame as the lead singer of the pioneering British gothic rock band Bauhaus.

Yes, cassette tapes continue to experience a steady niche cultural comeback.

Maxell batteries originated in Japan, where the company pioneered high-performance dry cells, lithium primary cells, and micro-batteries.

Yes, Maxell batteries are widely regarded as reliable and high quality.

Goodwill thrift stores generally accept donations of cassette tapes, but acceptance can vary significantly by individual store location based on local inventory space and current consumer demand.

Compact Discs (CDs) generally last significantly longer than cassette tapes.

No, the famous man sitting in a chair being blown backward by sound waves belongs to Maxell, not Memorex.

Yes, Maxell Corporation is very much in business.

Yes, Maxell is widely regarded as a dependable, high-quality brand.

In 1985, a standard blank blank audio cassette tape (such as a 90-minute normal-position TDK or Maxell tape) typically retailed between $2.00 and $4.00, while premium high-bias or metal formulation tapes cost considerably more, ranging from $5.

Yes, Maxell cassette tapes are still produced and sold.

People are buying cassettes again due to a growing cultural resurgence in physical media, tactile nostalgia, and the appeal of owning tangible music albums.

The most sought-after and expensive cassette tapes on the collector market typically include rare, limited-run underground heavy metal demo tapes, scarce promotional albums issued exclusively to music industry executives, unreleased test pressings, a...

High-end type IV metal-particle cassette tapes are widely considered the pinnacle of analog tape technology.

While precise sales figures for individual audio cassette releases are difficult to track definitively due to fragmented historical recordkeeping, blockbuster music albums from the late twentieth century—such as Michael Jackson's Thriller, Nirvana's ...

Yes, counterfeit Maxell batteries do exist in the global marketplace.

The most valuable 1980s cassette tapes are dominated by rare promotional releases, early heavy metal underground demos, misprinted editions, and limited-run artist pressings.