If you ask someone in their twenties what the top 5 Super Bowl ads of all time are, the response is going to be different from someone in their forties. Why? Outside the amount of Super Bowl ads the younger generation has seen, these ads are built around creating marketing design. Their goal is to connect with the right group of people, which essentially creates the most money for the brand.
While creative marketing make sense, these top 5 Super Bowl ads might not make sense to you…because they’re mine:
#5 The Snickers Celebrity Marketing Campaign
Without running to Google for the answer; do you know who won the Super Bowl XLIV in 2010? It was the New Orleans Saints 31-17 over the Indianapolis Colts. It was a storied game that brought Drew Brees into the “elite” status and Peyton Manning into controversy as the QB that had to go up against Rex Grossman to win a Super Bowl.
However you looked at the game itself, 2010 brought a wonderful campaign to the forefront. It revolved around Snickers and how taking one bite can get you out of your “funk,” and back in the game. Take a look and you will see Jamie “I think that was his name,” playing a game of backyard football with some friends, but he’s running around like Betty White. Definitely a classic!
#4 The New Pepsi Can: Cindy Crawford Ad
I was 17 years old back when this ad was played during the 1992 Super Bowl (btw, Dallas defeated Buffalo 52-17 in this one). It was two young kids playing around a wooden fence, across from the gas station, when Cindy Crawford pulls up to get a Pepsi out of the vending machine.
At the time, Cindy Crawford was the world’s biggest super model, so the commercial had these two young lads googling over her every move. The background music was The Hollies: Just One Look from 1964, but remade for the commercial. At the end of the commercial, the punchline came from one of the kids that said; “Is that a great new Pepsi can or what.” I remember getting a huge kick out of this one.
#3 The Budweiser Clydesdales Playing Football
In 1986, Budweiser started a commercial campaign revolving around Clydesdales. I believe the first one had a chorus in the background while the Clydesdales ran through the snow. The slogan was; “When you say Bud…you’ve said it all.”
Once the 1990s the Clydesdales were in full swing, but the 1996 ad showed two teams of Clydesdales playing football. This creative marking scheme connected with all ages, and from what I’ve read and heard, a lot of the movements the Clydesdales performed were real. In fact, when they all bowed at the end of the commercial, two of them really did bow. They had to use some sort of digital imagery to make it look like all the Clydesdales were bowing.
#2 1996 Pepsi Ad of Coke Employee
I found competition commercials to be the most entertaining. You know the ones where one company is taking a jab at the other. This 1996 Pepsi was a classic (even though I like Coke better). It involved a Coke driver distributing Coca-Cola cans to a convenient store. Just as he’s finishing up, he wipes down the open-door cooler and notices the Pepsi machine right next to it.
There is a short pause (almost like he’s contemplating his next move), and then he starts looking around to see if anyone is nearby. Little does he know he’s being recorded, and when he opens the Pepsi fridge to take a can of Pepsi, the entire rack falls. Next thing he knows everyone is coming around the corner to see what happens.
Me telling you about it definitely doesn’t give the commercial justice, so if you haven’t seen it then take a look.
#1 Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola Ad 1980
Anytime you look for the top Super Bowl ads on the Internet, the 1980 Coca-Cola ad with Mean Joe Greene is one of the favorites. You have this 6’4,” 275-pound man walking gingerly to the locker room, and a young boy comes up to him in the tunnel; offering him a coke. At first Mean Joe is more concerned about his pain, but eventually succumbs to the gestor by the boy, primarily because he drank the entire bottle of coke (I love coke in a bottle!).
The slogan was “Have a Coke and a Smile,” which was clearly seen in the commercial and around the country. Today, millions of people have viewed this Coca-Cola commercial, so you can see why I chose this as the top Super Bowl ad of all time.
