The most EFFECTIVE television ads?

[Naphtali]

I have watched no television for about seven years, so I suffer a severe case of arrested development when identifying the most EFFECTIVE television advertisements made. Note I typed "effective" rather than fun or interesting, or glitzy. Stan Freberg habitually won Cleos with his pizza ads. But they were ineffective selling the product. Procter & Gamble's soap, detergent, et al. advertising was incredibly uninteresting but did its job - possibly by wearing down watcher?

And then there are the special ones - memorable, interesting or fun, and incredibly effective. Here are my most effective television advertisements (campaigns).

1. The 1984 Super Bowl spot - a one-time showing - announcing Macintosh computers - by Apple. While shown only once, it is available for download on the worldwide web.

2. Timex watch ads hosted by John Cameron Swayze where watches were subjected to horrendous abuse - such as, being fastened to an outboard motor's propeller, the motor being run for about ten seconds. "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking."

3. Volkswagen (beetle) ads by Doyle, Dane, Bernbach, the most memorable of which was as follows. Be advised that in USA the only all-wheel or four-wheel drive automobiles were Jeeps.

Aerial pan of blizzard. As camera zooms slowly closer, we see headlights snaking along a "road." Burgess Meredith does the voice over (a wonderfully avuncular, reassuring voice) "Have you ever wondered how the man who drives the snow plow gets to the snow plow? The camera, that had been slowly zooming in, rests with full screen shot of a man getting out of a beetle. Meredith completes the ad, saying, "Now you know."

 

[LizzieMaine]

The one that really stands out for me was one from the early 70s for a product called the "Master Gun Lock," which was exactly what it sounds like -- a keyed lock that snaps over the trigger of a gun. The spot showed a woman and a small boy sitting at a table with the woman holding a large revolver, and demonstrating how the lock works, while the little boy watched. "If there is a gun in your home," she said, looking straight into the camera, and then at the boy, while placing the gun down on the table between them, "get the Master Gun Lock, and be *safe.*"

I can't imagine a spot like that running on television today, but it's been nearly forty years and I've never forgotten it.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Marlboro Cigarettes

The 'Marlboro Man' spots with the 'Magnificent Seven' theme song! Got me hooked years ago! (Not to worry - since become a born-again breather!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coFW2cId0j8&feature=related
(The only remaining commercial I could find is in Spanish!)

-dixon cannon

 

[Paisley]

Long ago, I saw an ad that showed a very old woman biting into an apple with her own teeth. She said she used dental floss.

 

[Atomic Age]

Probably the most effective (and some would say dirty) political add in the history of television.

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Doug

 

[Atomic Age]

The Pepsi Challenge adds starting in the mid 1970s, eventually let to Coke creating "New Coke".

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[Paisley]

To me, the most INeffective ad campaigns were the anti-drug campaigns. Eggs and brains, drugs and frying pans, what's the difference?

 

[LizzieMaine]

For a while in the late sixties, every cigarette ad on television had to be counterbalanced by an anti-smoking PSA -- and I bet anyone over 45 can remember "Kick the habit! Join the Unhooked Generation!" or -- the best one of all -- "Like Father -- Like Son??"

 

[Atomic Age]

For a while in the late sixties, every cigarette ad on television had to be counterbalanced by an anti-smoking PSA -- and I bet anyone over 45 can remember "Kick the habit! Join the Unhooked Generation!" or -- the best one of all -- "Like Father -- Like Son??"

I remember that one. Also the Johnny Smoke PSA.

 

[Widebrim]

For a while in the late sixties, every cigarette ad on television had to be counterbalanced by an anti-smoking PSA -- and I bet anyone over 45 can remember "Kick the habit! Join the Unhooked Generation!" or -- the best one of all -- "Like Father -- Like Son??"

"Like Father, Like Son?" Yes, that one ran for quite a few years, starting, I think, around 1965.

How about:

"Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is."

The T-Bones ad for Alka Seltzer, where they play, "Whatever shape your stomach's in." (They actually turned it into a 45, which spawned an LP; I met the ex-girlfriend of the leader of the band.)

"Where's the beef?"

 

[Atomic Age]

I love the Plop Plop Fizz Fizz add!

Okay then there is the Slinky commercials. This is the longest running jingle for a consumer product ever used. In fact they still use this song on Slinky commercials.

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Then there is the Big Mac commercial...

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Doug

 

[Lady Day]

These have been the *only* ads that have ever made me want to buy their product. Id call that effective.
Maybe its the high production values, or the choreography, but the series was just so well done. Kinda dated now

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The one above is my favorite. One shot. Excellent!

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LD

 

[Paisley]

Most EFFECTIVE anti-drug skit

Long ago, back when Saturday Night Live had all or most of its original cast (and the show was still funny), they did a short skit on drugs. I don't remember it exactly, but one of the cast was acting really slow and stupid. Then a caption came on that read, "Why do you think they call it 'dope'?"

I pretty much looked around at people who did a lot of drugs, and that was enough to convince me not to do them.

 

[Zombie_61]

I think we all have jingles and catch phrases stuck in our heads from years spent watching television, but I'd like to offer a different persepective on what constitutes an "effective" television ad.

For me, it's any ad that comes to mind when you're standing in the aisle at your local supermarket or convenience store, shopping for an item you've never used before, that convinces you their product is superior to any other.

 

[Chas]

Zazoo Condoms. A Masterpiece.

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Bud Lite Ads. Maybe not effective, 'cause I only drink Steigl - but funny anyway.
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[Leading Edge]

My high school students start smiling and singing in joyful anticipation when their after school snack is a bologna sandwich.

 

[Atinkerer]

Memerable yes, but effective I wouldn't know

Hi,

Quite a few ads came to mind while reading this thread. But I couldn't guess what ads were most effective.

Where's The Beef? That ad had some impact on me.

There was a drug ad where two young adults are smoking pot in a bedroom, and at the end their mom calls out to them asking if they went to look for a job today (or something like that). That one creped me out a bit.

There was one a couple of years ago that had people driving along and talking, when all of a sudden they get hit in the side by another car (pretty much). That one made me wish I had side air bags.

The old Mimorex spot were the singer breaks a glass and so does the tape. Is it live of is it Mimorex? That made me think Mimorex was a good tape brand.

The one that still runs from time to time where the guy has a hole in his neck and to talk through a box because he smoked got my attention.

**

There were a lot of other ads the I remember that were just fun to watch but didn't make me want to buy anything. So they mostly failed on me.

Back in the day there was an ad were they shoot a rifle at a Master Lock.

Another shot a Bic Pen out of a rifle and through a board, and it still wrote. I liked that one a lot.

Momma mia, that's a spicy meat ball. Plop plop fizz fizz.

Oh yes, and there was one Panty Hose ad that ran only one time and then seems to have been banned from TV. I liked that one a lot when I saw it at 15

Tony

 

[Paisley]

The Memorex ad starred Ella Fitzgerald

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkt8Dwzl6Sg

The side impact ad was good. After being broad-sided in 2006, I wanted side airbags, but settled for a bigger, heavier car.

I still remember one pantyhose ad from when I was a little kid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf3oOQq9KFU

 

[Yeps]

This is a bit later than what everyone else has been talking about, but all the Tyco Toys commercials that were on in the 90s (all the ones that said 'batteries sold separately'). I saw a commercial in that style again recently, and despite the fact that I am now twenty, I still wanted the toy they were selling. I don't even remember what it was, I just wanted it. They made those things to be completely irresistible.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

2. Timex watch ads hosted by John Cameron Swayze where watches were subjected to horrendous abuse - such as, being fastened to an outboard motor's propeller, the motor being run for about ten seconds. "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking."

I remember those old Timex ads. Great stuff! Like the American Tourister/Gorilla commercial from 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2ZeIoLz8FE