Top Ten Ads of the Past 25 Years

1 Life Alert: I’ve Fallen, and I Can’t Get Up! (1990)
The best-remembered (and most-parodied) commercial phrase of the past 25 years isn’t for a cola or sneaker. It comes from that elderly woman using the Life Alert gizmo around her neck to call for help. It is the ultimate product-as-hero ad.

2 Apple Macintosh: 1984 (1984)
The ad all others have aspired to be. Never mind that it aired once nationally, on the Super Bowl and that few recall much besides that very buff woman wielding a sledgehammer. It sold Macs.

3 Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef? (1984)
The same year Apple went over-the-top to tout its Mac, Wendy’s went under-the-bun to tout its burger. Crusty ol’ Clara Peller ranting “Where’s the Beef” became ingrained in pop culture. It may be the most effective fast-food ad ever. Sorry, Ronald.

4　Isuzu: Joe “Trust me” Isuzu (1986)
Joe Isuzu ranks among the most memorable auto pitchmen. He (David Leisure) was a remarkably likable liar making outrageous claims about the Isuzus. Joe’s job as slimy hawker wasn’t to sell cars, but to familiarize consumers with the then-little-known Isuzu name. Did he ever. Trust us.

5　Energizer Bunny (1989)
Energizer stole Duracell’s drum-beating bunny, put it in motion and never looked back. For this campaign, Energizer can beat its own drum. And it’s still going and going and going.

6　Bartles & Jaymes: Thank You for Your Support (1985)
Frank Bartles and Ed Jaymes perfected the art of sitting on the front porch step and shooting the breeze. (OK, Ed never spoke.) They convinced millions that the new wine cooler was from a coupla country geezers – never mind that wine giant Gallo was behind it.

7 California Raisin Advisory Board: Heard it Through the Grapevine (1986)
The ad wasn’t just the birth of the dancing raisins. It also was the birth of Claymation – clay animated figures that could move and groove. And it was the original better-for-you snack pitch: raisins instead of sweets?

8　Budweiser: Croaking Frogs (1995)
Perhaps the most fondly remembered Super Bowl campaign from Anheuser-Busch starred a trio of talking frogs in a dark swamp croaking: “Bud. Wei. Ser.” It was so widely mimicked and so wildly successful, the King of Beers made it a series with talking lizards and ferrets.

9 California Milk Processors Board: Got Milk? (1993)
What could be stickier than to have an entire peanut butter sandwich stuffed into your mouth – and have no milk to wash it down? This first ad was a springboard for Got Milk? – and Aaron Burr – into pop culture.

10 Partnership for a Drug-Free America: “This is Your Brain on Drugs” (1987) To scare teens off drugs, this public-service ad compared an egg in a frying pan to a brain on drugs. Any questions? Yes: Got cholesterol?