Some commercials do more than sell a product. They plant themselves in the collective memory of entire generations, turning a 30- or 60-second TV spot into a cultural event that gets referenced, parodied, and debated long after it first aired. Throughout television history, there have been numerous iconic commercials that have become timeless classics, from heartfelt sports moments to quirky humor, and these mini masterpieces have ingrained themselves in popular culture as a testament to advertising’s enduring influence on our lives. The five commercials below are not just remembered fondly. They genuinely changed the way people thought about brands, products, and the power of a well-told story.
1. Apple “1984” – The Commercial That Almost Never Aired (1984)
On January 22, 1984, during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, 96 million viewers witnessed the unveiling of a new kind of advertising. What they saw was not a standard product pitch or a humorous skit but a bold, cinematic statement that seemed to challenge the norms of society itself. Apple’s “1984” commercial, directed by the visionary Ridley Scott, introduced the Macintosh computer while delivering a chilling dystopian narrative inspired by George Orwell’s novel 1984. The story behind that 60 seconds is as gripping as the ad itself.
The agency Chiat/Day had crafted the concept, and Steve Jobs was immediately electrified by it. However, when the finished film was screened for Apple’s board of directors in December 1983, the reaction was icy silence. They hated it so much that they ordered the agency to sell off the time they had already purchased on that year’s Super Bowl, rather than run the ad. Chiat/Day had other ideas. “We kind of conspired to not sell the already purchased air time so we could run it one time,” said Lee Clow, one of the executives who created the iconic ad. That gamble paid off enormously. Apple sold over 70,000 units in the first 100 days, far exceeding expectations. The ad won several prestigious awards, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Advertising Festival and Advertising Age’s 1980s “Commercial of the Decade,” but its most enduring legacy is that it cemented the Super Bowl as each year’s blockbuster moment for advertisers and their clients.
2. Coca-Cola “Mean Joe Greene” – A Coke and a Smile (1979)
When Coca-Cola aired the “Mean Joe Greene” ad in 1979, it transformed a fearsome NFL icon into one of the most beloved figures in sports and advertising. The ad shows the battered Pittsburgh Steelers defensive star limping off the field before a young fan offers him a Coke and tells him he’s the best ever. The footage was shot in May 1979 at a small stadium in Mount Vernon, New York, and the commercial first aired on October 1, 1979, on ABC’s Monday Night Football, though its airing during Super Bowl XIV in 1980 brought it the most attention due to the program’s enormous audience.
On January 20, 1980, it aired on CBS before an estimated 105 million Super Bowl viewers, and its legacy on Madison Avenue was cemented. The commercial won both a Clio and a Cannes Gold Lion. Thousands of viewers sent letters of admiration to Coca-Cola, which led the brand to replicate this concept with sports stars from other nations like Thailand, Italy and Brazil. Nearly half a century later, “Mean Joe Greene” is still referenced as the gold standard for sports advertising, showing how a simple story, told well, can become part of culture and define what great advertising looks like for generations.
3. Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” – Three Words That Took Over America (1984)
In the early days of 1984, a no-nonsense question posed by a little-known 81-year-old Chicago manicurist launched one of the most iconic commercials in history. “Where’s the Beef?” became more than a fast-food catchphrase; it was a call for substance over fluff, a fast-food diss that transformed Wendy’s into a household name and firmly rooted the slogan in American pop culture. The strategy behind the campaign was to distinguish competitors like McDonald’s and Burger King from Wendy’s by focusing on the larger beef patty in Wendy’s hamburger. In the ad, an elderly woman receives a burger with a large bun but a comically small patty from a fictional competitor.
The ad was credited with boosting Wendy’s annual revenue by a whopping 31 percent, and made its way into the 1984 presidential campaign: Walter Mondale invoked “Where’s the Beef?” to slam rival Gary Hart’s lack of substance during the Democratic primary. Clara Peller, the 4-foot-10-inch Chicago native who starred in the ad, had worked as a manicurist for 35 years before being “discovered” in a local commercial at the age of 80. She was 81 when the Wendy’s ad debuted and thoroughly enjoyed her overnight celebrity, appearing on numerous TV talk shows, making a cameo on Saturday Night Live, and even serving as a guest time-keeper at Wrestlemania 2. Ad Age named “Where’s the Beef?” one of the top ten slogans of the 20th century.
4. Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” – A Brand Reborn Overnight (2010)
Created by ad agency Wieden+Kennedy for the Old Spice brand of male grooming products, the campaign is commonly referred to as “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.” It was launched to market Old Spice’s Red Zone After Hours Body Wash but was subsequently expanded to include other products. Crucially, the campaign targets female viewers, despite the product’s intended market being male, as the company determined that women frequently make purchasing decisions for hygiene products even for male household members. That insight was the spark that lit the entire campaign.
Its success went beyond the wildest dreams of agency and client, with 5.9 million YouTube views on the first day alone. By the end of 2010, Old Spice had become the leading bodywash brand for US men with sales up 125%. In June 2010, the ad won the Grand Prix for film at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, and in July 2010 it won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial. In two-and-a-half days, a Wieden+Kennedy team filmed 186 video responses to fans and celebrities based on questions from Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and more. These real-time messages were then posted on YouTube, sparking a sensation that would become the fastest growing and most popular interactive campaign in history.
5. Tootsie Pop “How Many Licks?” – The Question That Never Got Old (1968)
The original advertisement from 1968 that posed the question “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” is one of the most successful and beloved television ad campaigns of all time. It was created by the Doner advertising agency, and the ad is so popular that it is still shown today, more than 50 years after it originally aired. The commercial cleverly asked a question that the audience never knew they had in mind, but once they heard it, they couldn’t help but wonder. That’s a rare kind of advertising magic.
In 2015, a team of researchers from NYU and Florida State put their heads together to actually answer the question. After extensive research, it was determined that it takes approximately 997 licks. After all these years, TV stations are still airing this simple line-drawing animation. In fact, the “How Many Licks?” commercial is one of the longest-running ads to date. The voice of Mr. Owl was performed by Paul Winchell, a well-known voice actor of the era. The ad was a textbook example of a brilliant advertising strategy: it got the audience to keep thinking about the product long after viewing it.
Why These Ads Still Matter
Even after multiple viewings, the most memorable commercials stick in our minds because they never fail to make us laugh or feel something. Advertisers know that humor is a terrific tool to engage with an audience and build a favorable perception of a business. However, good comedy alone isn’t always enough to produce the most effective commercials. A catchy jingle, a play on emotions, or an outlandish concept with great execution can be the key for an ad to rank among the best ever produced. Each of the five commercials covered here checked several of those boxes at once.
More than 40 years after Apple’s “1984” aired, big-name directors routinely trade Hollywood for the Super Bowl, with the likes of Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Zack Snyder all contributing commercials in recent years. Many halftime commercials are now mini movies in themselves, with A-list actors, storylines, and even teaser trailers released ahead of time. Many tune in just to watch the adverts, such is their cultural importance. The NFL is now selling some 30-second slots for $8 million, a price that reflects the outsized cultural footprint these commercials have inherited from the classics that came before them.
