The best Super Bowl ads of all time, from frogs to Darth Vader

Senior writer

Fri, 1 Feb 2019, 10:17 am

Where does lil’ Vader rank on our list? (via screenshot)

The Super Bowl is upon us, and that means it’s time for the grand American debate: Which Super Bowl ad is the best? We’ll see this year’s crop on Sunday, but before we get to the array of celebrities, running jokes, painful attempts to be funny, and equally painful attempts to be earnest/patriotic, let’s run down the best Super Bowl ads in all of recorded history. These were the ads deemed funniest, most heartwarming, or most influential over the half-century of the Super Bowl’s existence. As always, our decisions are final, though you’re welcome to add your own input in the comments below. And away we go …

10. “23 vs. 39,” Gatorade: Come on! An aging Michael Jordan playing his 23-year-old self? It’s a metaphor for life, the joys of youth and the virtues of wisdom. Pretty heady stuff for a sports drink commercial. Seeing MJ play the only guy who could ever contain him was pretty sweet, too.

9. “Respect,” Budweiser: The Super Bowl after 9/11 was a strange time in American history: were we supposed to be enjoying this day? Were we supposed to be solemn and respectful? Budweiser tried to split the difference with an ad that turned patriotism into a brand strategy, something that’s only grown more prominent as the years have passed.

8. “When I Grow Up,” Monster: One of the first of the “make you feel rotten about your life during the Super Bowl” ads, this one featured a bunch of hopeful kids talking about how they wanted to become corporate brown-nosers and lackeys — in other words, give up on their dreams and join the rat race. It may not have been the most inspirational of messages, but damned if it didn’t get the point across: get out of your terrible job.

7. “Bud” “Weis” “Er”, Budweiser: Narrowly beating out “Wassap!” for this slot, the Budweiser frogs were the most kid-friendly mascot of an adult product since Joe Camel hawked cigarettes. If you didn’t try to burp “Bud/Weis/Er” after this one aired, you’re lying.

6. Darth Vader, Volkswagen: Before we suffocated under the weight of new Star Wars material, this was a cute and clever callback, a kid doing what we all did as young’uns: using the Force, or at least trying to.

5. “Where’s the Beef?”, Wendy’s: Perhaps the ultimate catchphrase commercial of all time, this one — with a little old lady barking about tiny burger patties — was referenced in a vice-presidential debate at a time when our politics and our pop culture didn’t intersect at all. If you’re of a certain age, you can still hear this lady in your nightmares.

4. Terry Tate, Office Linebacker, Reebok: Violence can be funny! Particularly violence against your co-workers, who, let’s face it, really do deserve a sacking for leaving the coffee pot empty. This would set off a wave of hyperviolent “funny” ads that would involve everything from old women getting tackled to jungle explorers getting eaten by alligators. Break was over 15 minutes ago, Mitch!

3. Jordan vs. Bird, McDonald’s: Even though Jordan and Bird look impossibly dorky — come on, Mike, what kind of roadkill died to make that outfit — this was the coolest ad of its era, and every kid with a basketball tried to replicate it.

2. 1984, Apple: This one came out of nowhere and vanished just as quickly, airing only once, and still remains a classic because of its message of independence against a monolithic dictatorship. (Plus: a personal computer for everyone? Preposterous idea.) Put aside the irony of the fact that Apple became every bit as dominant as the authority depicted here; this ad, with its Big Themes and Big Production Values, would go on to inspire half of all Super Bowl commercials to come. Which ad inspired the other half? Come on, you already know.

1. Mean Joe Greene, Coca-Cola: The greatest became the greatest, and remains the greatest, for a simple reason: it works. Cute kid, famous athlete, easily understandable story, heartwarming ending: this one set the template for the other half of all Super Bowl ads. They’ll be watching this on the 22nd-century version of YouTube a hundred years from now.

That’s our list. What’s yours? Hit us up with your thoughts below, and we’ll all see if Sunday brings any new entries.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.