I was looking at a list of famous Super Bowl commercials and it’s list of notable commercials is… puzzling to say the least…
(Look at the expandable list at the bottom)
Only one commercial from the entire 2000’s is notable but the 2010’s already has NINE “notable” commercials? Despite the fact none of them really had much buzz beyond the Super Bowl? The last commercial I’d say was notable on that list is the one from the 2000’s, the Old Spice ad since I remember people talking about it was recently as last year.
So in your mind, what was the last “iconic” commercial? For my definition of iconic, I’d say any advertisement that hit the pop culture and people referenced beyond the short time nowadays almost anything gets buzz for. For example, has anyone else talked about that “The 80’s Called” Radio Shack ad except for all those listicles that popped out about it to explain all the references the next day? But you still see people occasionally bust out a “I’m on a horse” randomly on a podcast. Also commercials people bring up to mock don’t really count either since they’re iconic for the wrong reason, like the Cop Pepsi ad.
For my money, the last ad I remember taking the world by storm was those FreeCreditReport.com commercials from 2009, the ones with the band singing out their bad credit. Those were so popular they had a total of 9 of them, followed by a spin-off, then a revival. I remember TV shows would bring it up at the time as a joke.
It wasn’t a single commercial, but the “Dude, you’re gettin’ a Dell” campaign made a media sensation of actor Ben Curtis, until he was arrested trying to buy marijuana.
Now that I have been cable-free and commercial free for almost 10 years, I haven’t seen any ads for years. Except for watching a few Super Bowl ads on Youtube and so forth.
Anyway, I would say for me, it was this ad from McDonalds:
Agreed. I don’t recognize them from the description, so they’re not iconic.
IMHO, “iconic” means that if you refer to them or parody them, “everyone” will get the reference.
And, Progressive’s Flo and the Geico Gecko are iconic characters, but that’s not the same as the commercials they’re in being iconic. Is there anything they’re known for doing or saying, the way there is for, say, Mr. Whipple or the Energizer Bunny?
Didn’t mean it in a pretensious way. I still watch tons of TV, probably more than when it had ads. I just meant that I don’t see commercials anymore and am unfamiliar with them.
