# Best Super Bowl Ads ever - CBS version **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054 "2006-02-05T01:10:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/1 "2006-02-05T01:10:21Z")
This looks terrible - ripoff of VH1 or E!TV “biography” shows with interspersed with celebrity comments, only with worse celebrities. Having the NFL Today team give their opinions of the best ever - lame. Anyway - is there anyone who doesn’t think that the best Super Bowl ad ever was Apple’s 1984? What other ones stick out? Having worked in the Internet industry during the boom, I always fondly remember the E-Trade one with the monkey and the, I guess, hillbillies, clapping hands to “La Cucaracha” and the tagline “Well, we just wasted a million dollars”. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/2 "2006-02-05T06:44:55Z")
I thought the E\*Trade “monkey” ad was hilarious. I was alone in my household in holding that opinion. How about the Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/3 "2006-02-05T06:48:02Z")
> [@rexnervous](#): > > Anyway - is there anyone who doesn’t think that the best Super Bowl ad ever was Apple’s 1984? _raises hand_ I have to say the aforementioned Mean Joe Greene/Coke commerical was the best. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/4 "2006-02-05T07:53:26Z")
> [@rexnervous](#): > > This looks terrible - ripoff of VH1 or E!TV “biography” shows with interspersed with celebrity comments, only with worse celebrities. Their analysis of the Budweiser frogs was a triumph of pop-culture’s overwhelming love for itself. If I can recreate it for the people who didn’t see it: > [@Announcer](#): > > But nothing had prepared Western Civilization for the malt-flavored amphibious display that was to come. **The Budweiser frogs ad plays in its entirety.** > [@Nobody celeb #1](#): > > So they had these three frogs in a swamp, right? **Clip of the first Budweiser frog croaking "Bud."** > [@Nobody celeb #2](#): > > So the first frog says “Bud,” right? > [@Nobody celeb #3](#): > > Bud. > [@Nobody celeb #4](#): > > Bud. > [@Nobody celeb #5](#): > > Bud. **Clip of the frog saying “Bud” plays again.** > [@Nobody celeb #6](#): > > And then you’ve got the second one, and he totally goes “Weis!” **Clip of the second frog croaking "-Weis."** > [@Nobody celeb #1](#): > > Weis. > [@Nobody celeb #2](#): > > Weis. > [@Nobody celeb #5](#): > > WEIS! > [@Nobody celeb #3](#): > > Weis. **Clip of frog 2 saying “Weis” again.** > [@Nobody celeb #4](#): > > And then they pan left, and there’s ONE MORE frog, and he just goes “Er.” **Clip of “Er” frog.** > [@Nobody celeb #3](#): > > Er. > [@Nobody celeb #5](#): > > Er. > [@Nobody celeb #6](#): > > Er. > [@Nobody celeb #2](#): > > ER! > [@Nobody celeb #1](#): > > Er. **Frog says "Er."** > [@Nobody celeb #5](#): > > It was great! **Whole commercial plays again.** ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/5 "2006-02-05T16:01:07Z")
Apple 1984 was the best by all rational standards. Everyone remembers it, and it was only shown _once_. It was years before it was shown again, and Mean Joe Green was on the air constantly during its run (did it actually premiere at the Superbowl? I saw it so many times that I never associated it with the game before this.) So you have an ad that appeared one time, and which people still remember twenty-two years later, vs. one that had mass saturation on all networks for months. Apple is the clear winner. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/6 "2006-02-05T16:27:20Z")
Mean Joe Green by a mile over the Apple one. While the ad was controversial and artsy, was it successful? Did the sale of Apples go through the roof? An ad should be judged on the ability to generate greater sales or revenue. Setting aside that criteria, I thought the content of the Apple ad was kinda meh. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/7 "2006-02-05T16:50:04Z")
I work in broadcasting, so the FedEx commercial about the company that spent millions of dollars on a commercial, with the Rockettes, Garth Brooks, and dancing kangaroos, then had to run a crawl across color bars because their ad agency didn’t use FedEx to ship the spot had me rolling. I liked the Budweiser one at the 2002 Super Bowl, where the Clydesdales ride across the snow to the Statue of Liberty, and bow before it. The one last year, where passengers in the airport gave returning soldiers a standing ovation, made me well up too. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/8 "2006-02-05T16:58:17Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > Mean Joe Green by a mile over the Apple one. While the ad was controversial and artsy, was it successful? Did the sale of Apples go through the roof? An ad should be judged on the ability to generate greater sales or revenue. > > Setting aside that criteria, I thought the content of the Apple ad was kinda meh. Depends upon your judging criteria. If you’re the company producing the ad, your immediate goal is probably sales. But I think as a consumer, you judge ads differently - especially Super Bowl ads. I agree totally with **RealityChuck** - an ad shown only once 20 years ago still being talked about and remembered is astounding. And I say that loving the Joe Greene ad. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/9 "2006-02-05T16:58:39Z")
The Apple 1984 ad was the best without question. For one, it was the first “Super Bowl ad”. It demonstrated to ad agencies that the Super Bowl was the place to be, and it’s been that way ever since. The Apple ad was actually shown twice, by the way, but one was late night on some obscure Midwest channel so it could qualify for awards. Honorable mention goes to the Bud Bowls. First there was the Freezer, then it was the Washer, the Dryer, and the Kitchen Sink. When the first one pulled a Stanford-Cal and went through the band it was destined for immortality. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/10 "2006-02-05T17:01:19Z")
> [@rexnervous](#): > > Depends upon your judging criteria. If you’re the company producing the ad, your immediate goal is probably sales. But I think as a consumer, you judge ads differently - especially Super Bowl ads. > > I agree totally with **RealityChuck** - an ad shown only once 20 years ago still being talked about and remembered is astounding. > > And I say that loving the Joe Greene ad. To add to my point - Super Bowl ads are not about sales - they are about branding. The Apple commercial absolutely (with no empirical evidence) helped the us-against-them rabid fanbase of Apple. Which, ultimately, helped sales. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/11 "2006-02-05T18:58:21Z")
> [@rexnervous](#): > > To add to my point - Super Bowl ads are not about sales - they are about branding. The Apple commercial absolutely (with no empirical evidence) helped the us-against-them rabid fanbase of Apple. > > Which, ultimately, helped sales. That is a good point. It helped Apple carve out the niche of anti-establishment users! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/12 "2006-02-05T22:13:17Z")
Best commercial was Apple, 1984. Funniest commercial was the Bud Light, “What are you doing?”. And I agree about Mean Joe Greene – I never associated that commercial with a Super Bowl. But then, the concept of “Super Bowl Commecial” pretty much started with 1984. There’s another interesting sub-topic – why are there so many Super Bowl commercials that never get aired again? You’d think they’d want to re-coup their investment. (But in the case of Bud Light and the farting horse…thank God for small favors.) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-super-bowl-ads-ever-cbs-version/343054/13 "2006-02-05T22:30:41Z")
Mean Joe commercial, best ever. I also liked the one with the dalmatian puppies-one gets picked by the firemen, and sticks its tongue out at its littermate. Flash forward four years. The fire carriage is driving past another one…drawn by famous clydesdales. Sitting on the box of the Budweiser carriage is the rejected puppy, who now sticks ITS tongue out at the first one. Oh, and what about the McDonalds ad for Superbowl XXX (probably the only thing I WANT to remember from that one!), with the baby in the swing, it would cry on the back swing, cry on the upswing. On the upswing, it could see the golden arches.