Friday, March 07, 2008

Friday Fresh: TV Commercials To Remember!

A high school student was telling me the other day about how in her economics class, they are studying the Top Ten Most Successful TV Commercials. We here at YA Fresh know I’m a sucker for Top Ten Lists (haha), so I was all ears.

And while she couldn’t name them all for me without finding her notes--and far be it from me to ask a student to do MORE work--I asked her about the three oldies that immediately jumped to my mind:

--Life Cereal (“Hey, Mikey! He Likes It!”)


--Alka Seltzer (“Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz”)


--Wendy’s (“Where’s the Beef?”)


And she said yes, they were all on the top ten list.

The #1 rated TV commercial, according to this study presented in her class, only ran once. It was for a Mac computer and aired during the Super Bowl. It apparently blazed the trail for what we now know as Super Bowl Commercials, the year’s most important and watched commercials, and once was enough!

So now it’s your turn: what are some favorite or memorable TV commercials that stick in your head?

12 fresh comments:

Anonymous said...

I like a clever commercial - but what I live for is Movie Previews (I know, that's a type of commercial. . .) Love them - movies are my consumerism addiction :)

TinaFerraro said...

Oh, yes, Bria, I love movie preview commercials, too...as long as they don't give away the plot twists. That's my pet peeve.

Thanks!

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

I think it has to be the "Got Milk" commercials. haha! Those were always hilarious!

Me said...

Funny you should mention this... I've been reminiscing about the 80s lately, and there are a bunch of doozies from that decade.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

"I don't wanna grow up, I'm a 'Toys R Us' kid..."

"I've fallen... and I can't get up!"

My SoCal regional fave was Cal Worthington and his dog, Spot (who was never actually a dog, but a series of exotic animals) for Worthington Ford.

TinaFerraro said...

Great commercials, Kelly and TLC. And yeah, Cal Worthington for Worthington Ford...that's a blast from my past!

danceluvr said...

"That's a spicy meatball."

I loved it when the guy just sat there after the director yelled, "Action." He'd eaten so many meatballs, he couldn't take another bite.

It was an antacid commercial.

Anonymous said...

Tina,
My girlfriend's son was in a commercial where the faces kept changing and now I can't even remember what it was advertising.

Janie

TinaFerraro said...

danceluvr, was that for Alka Seltzer, too?

And Janie, yeah, I remember the one about the faces changing...was that for a health care company or a medication?

Thanks for weighing in!

stephhale said...

I absolutely love the Coca-Cola polar bear commercials. It doesn't seem like Christmas time until I've seen them! :)

TinaFerraro said...

Oh, Steph, you're right, those are great!

Anonymous said...

I really miss the Gap commercials. Especially the swing dance one. Oh! And I loved the Gap Kids commercials where the kids were pretending to sing in a band? And one of the songs was a Lenny Kravitz song, I think.

TinaFerraro said...

Yes, Celise, I remember those, too! Great ones!