It’s been estimated that 18% percent of Super Bowl viewers only really tune in for the commercial breaks. That’s a lot of people, especially once you consider how few people really sit down and watch television actually on televisions anymore, let alone at the time that it’s originally airing.
Not all spots are created equal, of course, but some become iconic, remembered decades after they aired—long after the fates of the players in the game that surrounded them have faded from memory. Here are some of the most memorable Super Bowl ads of all time—from expertly orchestrated emotional arcs and click-bait-ready celebrity cameos to heritage companies making new moves, or just plain clever branding.
Mountain Dew Kickstart: Puppymonkeybaby, 2016
It was bizarre. It was uncomfortable. It was also really, really difficult to ignore. In the world of TV advertisements, that’s a slam dunk. Mountain Dew’s chanting “Puppymonkeybaby” nearly broke the Internet when it premiered in 2016, for Super Bowl 50. Just try not to let it get stuck in your head.
Liam Neeson for Clash of Clans: Revenge, 2015
The most popular ad of 2015 featured an ultra-intense Liam Neeson preparing his vengeance on an innocent Clash of Clans online gamer. The barista who mispronounces his name is also on his list.
Volkswagen’s The Force, 2011
Just try to resist smiling while watching this adorable Volkswagen commercial, which combines youthful ambition and some loving sleight of hand.
Betty White for Snickers, 2010
No matter how many times we’ve watched this commercial, it’s always shocking to see a then-88-year-old Betty White being tackled into a pile of mud during a rough game of football.
Parisian Love by Google, 2010
This Google ad tells the love story of a foreign exchange student in Paris, showing search queries typed on a computer screen. The commercial, while romantic, also kind of makes us want to delete our cache immediately.
E-Trade Baby, 2008–2013
This series by E-Trade proved that a talking baby can make anything sound simple, even online trading. The first ad was such a hit, the company featured the talking baby in their Super Bowl ads for six years in a row, until he finally retired in 2014.
Britney Spears for Pepsi, 2002
At the height of her popularity, Britney Spears starred in this ad by Pepsi, in which she played a pop star during the buttoned-up ’50s, a surfer girl in the ’60s, and an androgynous ’80s singer, among other characters.
Budweiser’s Frogs, 1995
It was impossible to drink a Budweiser in 1995 without thinking of these three monosyllabic frogs.
Larry Bird and Michael Jordan for McDonald’s, 1993
It’s hard to imagine anyone today dueling for a Big Mac as long as basketball stars Michael Jordan and Larry Bird did back in 1993. Meanwhile, the year this ad aired, Michael Jackson was the Super Bowl halftime act, while O.J. Simpson performed the game’s opening coin toss.
Cindy Crawford for Pepsi, 1992
This Pepsi ad featuring Cindy Crawford stepping out of a red Lamborghini in a white swimsuit was an instant classic. Ten years later, Crawford reenacted the spot, but this time, she was climbings out of an SUV with her two kids in the back seat.
Apple’s 1984, 1984
If you watched Steve Jobs, you caught a glimpse of this controversial Apple ad, which premiered during the 1984 Super Bowl. The post-apocalyptic ad was directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ridley Scott (The Martian) and was revolutionary at the time for not showing the product it was advertising.
Tang, 1967
A classic in the truest sense of the word, this TV spot from 1967 shows just how far we’ve come in terms of technology in the last half-century (and, as a bonus, gets us all nostalgic for the golden era of baseball).
