Top 5 Best TV Advertising (Historically)
1) Nike
2) ESPN
3) Apple
4) Carl’s Jr.
5) Budweiser
Runners up: Volkswagen, DeBeers
Note: This is not best one-off commercials or campaigns, this is over time. Also, I should note that I am completely aware of the fact that I am the exact demographic for every one of these companies and therefore might have a slight bias.
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Posted on August 26, 2008, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 45 Comments.
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
arandomjohn
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
Budweiser?
Dude, this Bud’s for Rusty!
Burger King over Carl’s Jr., if you’re going for nailing the demographic: guys love the commercials, girls hate them, and guys love that girls hate them.
And while I use Mac, I think nearly all Apple commercials are annoying (exception: the MacBook Air commercial).
What about the Nissan commercials from the late 80′s/90′s? “Dogs love trucks.” Very cool camera work.
I don’t see a Big Mac Attack anywhere in here.
Most marketers will tell you that historically, Burger King is one of the worst.
I would consider Geico, Aflac, and Careerbuilder.com, though they don’t have a lot of comparative history.
McDonald’s advertising for the past 5-10 years has been pretty bad.
Not Coca-Cola? Where do you see ESPN advertising?
Worst advertising (of late): Allstate insurance – @$%@$ out of nowhere car crashes. Hate, hate, hate those!
I think Rusty is probably referring to the “This is SportsCenter” commercials that have been on for 15 years or so. Brilliant too, I might add.
Brian J, I think you have Burger King and Carl’s Jr. mixed up. Aside from the genius (and creepy) BK King ads, BK stuff has been pretty bad historically. Lately, since they changed their ad company they’ve done some pretty decent stuff, but overall it’s been pretty bad.
Tim, yes, I totally forgot Geico. Great stuff.
FHL, Coke has had some decent spots over the years, but overall it’s almost all overproduced, bland, forgettable stuff.
And yes, it’s the “This is SportsCenter” stuff that I’m talking about. And the “ESPN the Magazine” commercials are pretty awesome as well.
I don’t drink, but the old Bud Light commercials from the 80′s and early 90′s were classic.
No way Carl’s Jr. ought be in the top 10 though.
I’d say Cascade from the 70′s through 90′s was pretty significant. (Remember the hand in the soap routine?)
Geico is good for current ads.
My top 10 would be:
1. Coke – yeah the recent decade has been weak. But the 60′s through the 90′s was an amazing run of memorable ads – some including the most memorable ads of all time.
2. Nike – they’ve constantly had strong ads with some of the best directors.
3. Calvin Kline – once again not quite a dominant but they went through a pretty remarkable stretch there.
4. Apple
5. Budweiser
I’m forgiving BK in the past because the BK of the present is so good. Carl’s Jr ads are okay, but not great. Then again, I didn’t grow up with Carls Jr, so maybe I’m missing some background to make that call.
A good ad campaign should make me want to identify myself with the product—make me proud that I use it or make me wish that I did.
One more to add to the list: Visa.
Holiday Inn (especially the “Express” brand) has had a good run from the Single Guy living at home to the Joe Buck ones to the current “Breakfast Bar” spots. It’s solid stuff.
American Express has done well, though I agree Visa’s branding itself with being widely accepted has been successful.
I think overall Lexus wins the car category though VW has been strong. Porsche had a campaign several years back that was brilliant.
Got Milk ads were always great.
Current winners would include FreeCreditReport.com and Jack’s Link Beef Jerkey (Messin’ with Sasquatch).
SportsCenter. I’m still looking for a comprehensive DVD of the commercials so I don’t have to watch the poor image quality ones on youtube.
Budweiser advertising execs must have the easiest job in the universe. They’re selling a product they’re not allowed to show people drinking, sure, but that leaves the field wide open for them to be really creative. All a beer company needs is brand recognition, anyway.
I can’t recall a single Carl Jr’s ad. Apple ads are lame.
Coke should be up there if only for the “I’d like to teach the world to sing” commercial. And the kid with the football player.
Rainier Beer had better commercials than Budweiser, though:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz-WuLQz_ns&hl=en&fs=1
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_BMbiiRjw&hl=en&fs=1
Maybe you had to grow up in Seattle.
Susan,
I grew up in Spokane with those Rainier Beer commercials. I still quote them.
Susan, I don’t care for the current gen of Mac & PC ads with John Hodgeman. But the first few years of iPod ads were inspired.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5z0Ia5jDt4&hl=en&fs=1
I loved the Think Different campaign from back around Apple’s nadir. (When frankly Apple sucked)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oitVQkAZ6JA&hl=en&fs=1
And of course Seinfeld (now spokesman for Vista) was in one.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNDEwsIGJKI&hl=en&fs=1
And who can forget the old 1984 commercial which is historic in advertising circles.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8&hl=en&fs=1
(Edit: fixed YouTube screwup)
Susan, I remember the guilty pleasure of being a Mormon kid who liked Rainier Beer commercials. Just saying the words, “Raaaaaiiii-nieeeeeeer Beeeeeeeer”—it felt so…renegade. (PS, I grew up in UT.)
What, no Jello?
I think both Old Navy and Gap make very watchable ads.
Hmm. Old Navy ads are…bad. Especially when they launched the company and had those ads with that designer with the huge glasses and Morgan Fairchild.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8BIUJRU3Ts&hl=en&fs=1
The Gap had a great run in the late 90′s but then had troubles both in ads and in terms of making crappy clothes no one wanted to wear.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knW1hGwmEXQ&hl=en&fs=1
The last two years they’ve had some good, albeit not memorable ads.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Di5XPllM18&hl=en&fs=1
Jello in the 80′s had some great ads with Bill Crosby. “There’s always room for Jello.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjrtsIY4WqQ&hl=en&fs=1
(Edit: fixed YouTube videos)
While you may not care for them, I would argue it is one of the most successful ad campaigns in recent history.
Memorable, yes. But it flopped in purpose sales-wise.
Tim, why do you say it flopped? Wikipedia says, “The commercial, as one of the most popular of all time, is credited with helping Coca-Cola regain its status as the preeminent soft drink in North America.” Of course Wikipedia’s accuracy is often dubious. But I’m curious as to why you think it’s wrong here. I’d always heard that this was one of the most successful ad campaigns of the last 50 years.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mOEU87SBTU&hl=en&fs=1
BTW – Coke actually has up a web page on the campaign.
It was Palmolive you soak in, not Cascade.
Doh! Just to make up for my error here’s one of that classic set of ads. This from 1981.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzmTtusvjR4&hl=en&fs=1
And I was surprised at how long that Cascade commercial run went. This one must be from the 50′s but I remember it from the 80′s.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIDNLLfqWek&hl=en&fs=1
Ancient Chinese secret, eh?
I might be misremembering which ad. In the book The End of Advertising as We Know It, written by the former Chief Marketing Officer of Coca-Cola, Sergio Zyman, I thought he mentions that particular ad as a great example of a commercial that people remember and one that makes them feel good, but ultimately does nothing for sales.
Again, I could be wrong.
Volkswagen
Alka-Seltzer
L’Oreal
Clairol Nice ‘n’ Easy (Does she or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.)
Dang, how could I forget Volkswagen. Tons of great ads from the recent “Unpimp your car”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I0WfnhVs2s&hl=en&fs=1
to the ever popular Da Da Da from I think the late 90′s
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_s5-R_JE4c&hl=en&fs=1
to my favorite the Pink Moon commercial that brough Nick Drake to a new audience.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIOW9fLT9eY&hl=en&fs=1
There’s probably more. They had a fantastic run from the 90′s to today.
Old Navy ads with Fairchild made me want to throw away all my (cheap) clothes from Old Navy.
Current Mac ads with Hodgeman make me feel the same about the Mac I use at work. The idea they’re selling is silly and I don’t want to be associated with it.
BK’s creep King ads (which I love) are a bit of a rip-off of Jack-In-The-Box ads, which feature Jack, the antenna ball headed CEO of the company. I think Jack had some great ads, but since I no longer live in their market I don’t see them.
Carl’s has reasonably good ads, also targeting men, showing giant messy burgers dripping all over.
Personally I think the biggest recent advertising coup has been Dr Pepper’s hire of Tay Zonday, who is totally right about the web murdering your TV. But even that hasn’t made me drink any form of diet soft drink.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x2W12A8Qow&hl=en&fs=1
Here’s the original for those few who missed that meme.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA&hl=en&fs=1
He honestly sounds like some (very white) 60′s Lounge Singer.
I’d never seen any of that Tay Zonday ads. That’s awesome. I’m glad he was able to cash in a bit from that YouTube video he posted.
I can’t imagine switching sodas due to any add. Although now that I think of it I have to confess I may have started drinking caffeine due to the Diet Pepsi ads with Michael J. Fox.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRVIuvhKULM&hl=en&fs=1
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE7ipDb_Jvc&hl=en&fs=1
Hey, what can I say? I was a kid. Besides which I’ve since switched to Diet Coke. Speaking of Coke my favorite Coke commercials were the Max Headroom ones.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmb65yDGHbI&hl=en&fs=1
Ah, High School in the 80′s.
Susan M,
The all-time best Seattle ad wasn’t Rainier Beer, though, it was for Ivars. “Dances With Clams.” The producers of Dances With Wolves threatened to sue them, iirc. There is something so Seattle about it – from the day when Ballard actually was little Norway.
~
hm … can’t get it to embed, but here’s the link:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUANmtaY1lQ&hl=en&fs=1
BTW – someone mentioned bad McDonald’s commercials. I think it was all down hill when they got rid of half the characters and made the Hambugler all cute. The original is semi-scary.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oST_yerRopk&hl=en&fs=1
BTW – check out the original Ronald McDonald!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krXP_TUZqsk&hl=en&fs=1
Jack-in-the-Box ads with Jack were great. Even the BK ads borrow from them in terms of being totally surreal. But I haven’t lived in a Jack-in-the-Box market for about 10 years, so I don’t know if they’ve continued to be great ads.
Not wanting to brag…but I am going into advertising…so…not wanting to brag, but I know more than you…
Here’s my top 5 (in no order)
1. McDonalds – even though they suck now, the “you deserve a break today” commercials were groundbreaking…how many can sit here and sing the songs with the dances (I can’t, it’s before my time, but everyone NOW knows the “da da da da da I’m loving it” slogan
2. Marlboro – So successful that the US government went after big tobacco to get rid of the Marlboro man and to get rid of that advertising
3. Budweiser/Miller Lite – Both are different, but both capitalize on the same thing: appealing to 18-44 (a huge demographic) males through humor. Though sometimes I think the golden age of beer advertising has gone downhill (compare to the early to mid 90′s where EVERYONE knew ALL the beer ads from the Super Bowl becasue they were so good).
4. Apple – Not because the commercials are spectacular, but creatively it’s really ingenius what they’ve done. They understood that many Apple users border on fanatical concerning their superiority over Windows users. They also are exploiting some of the common pitfalls that happen to Windows users, and are creating a cult following
5. Just for argument’s sake, I’ll agree with Clark on CK…wait…ClarK…Calvin Kline…CK? Too many coincidences? The reason CK worked was because it was seductive. Brooke Shields, Mark Whalberg (those are the only two that stand out to me) helped grab that sex appeal and (IMHO) started the sex-appeal craze for clothes that dominated the 80′s and 90′s
Honorable Mention:
ESPN
VW
Coke/Pepsi (the cola wars)
Nike
My professor gave us a link to the Ad Age Advertising Century, which, on the righthand side, gives a bunch of links to the most successful jingles, slogans, campaigns, and icons
Ad Age Century
Brandt, CK also introduced Kate Moss, started the waif look, and created single handed millions of eating disorders.
and there’s a problem with that?
Interesting how much of CK’s influence can be felt with some of the more “trendier” clothing places. Without CK blazing the trail, there might be no AC&F, AE, or Hollister (in my opinion, all three are successful because of CK)
Yes, I think a lot of the mainstream clothing and more importantly clothing advertising borrowed directly from CK.
This one’s my favorite
Target?
Washington Mutual?
I’m biased towards Volkswagon and Apple. I love both ad campaigns and I love both products.
Geico – great ads.
Max Headroom doing Pepsi was pretty cool.
Beer commercials take all. “Real Men of Genius” still makes me laugh. So does “Wazzzuuuup!!!”
Carl’s Jr. = gross! Me no like the condiment blops or the ridiculous eating sound effects.
Apple & VW campaigns = these probably build solidarity among already captive consumers, but do they increase market share? I actually identify with the nerd who embodies PCs. I want him to punch that little hipster prick in the gut. (Come to think of it, he should sucker punch all those vapid hipsters in the VW commercials while he’s at it!)
I can’t help it if I’m too cool for my own good, S.P.
To me, ESPN may be even better than Nike.
Apple isn’t there yet. Coke has done a better job. Carl’s Junior does nothing for me.
I find Geico and Aflac extremely annoying. But nobody beats Freecreditreport.com for worst ads all time in my opinion. Half the songs make so sense.
I actually enjoy most of Sonic’s current bizarre ad campaign as well.
SP Bailey,
You’re supposed to identify with PC guy. He’s always having trouble with the PC, the Vista upgrade, etc. He’s a sympathetic way of saying that Windows sucks, and that in your heart you already know that.