# What was the last iconic commercial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2018, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278 "2018-10-21T08:45:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/21 "2018-10-22T01:11:35Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Where’s the beef? > > I know it’s nowhere near the last one, but it’s the first one I distinctly remember. It’s the last one I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/22 "2018-10-22T01:26:11Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > It’s the last one I remember. And having now read the rest of the thread— I grew up in the seventies, so a bit of counterpoint to Pulykamell and Projammer. I think of “where’s the beef?” as especially “iconic” because I knew all about it (probably thanks to Walter Mondale) before I actually saw it. I know I’ve never been so excited to see a commercial in the flesh. “Look, there it is!” I remember saying to my wife, and it was as though some Holy Grail had at least been achieved. Joe Isuzu just doesn’t cut it. I even know the name of the actor off the top of my head: Clara Peller. That’s possibly the only commercial performer whose name I know. Iconic, yes indeed. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/23 "2018-10-22T01:41:30Z")
Steve Mizerak’s trick pool shot commercial for Miller Light is very iconic to me. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3tYL2Btxmjg/hqdefault.jpg "Miller Lite, 1978 11 20, Steve Mizerak") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tYL2Btxmjg) It inspired me to take the game very seriously for many years. I had dreams of playing in tournaments. Never got good enough no matter how much I practiced. Some of the Geico commercials are memorable. I like the Let Me Be Myself bowling bit. The caveman at the airport is really good. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BqnWNMsWdqM/maxresdefault.jpg "3 Doors Down and GEICO Caveman bowling") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqnWNMsWdqM) ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/24 "2018-10-22T01:41:36Z")
Iconic: Apple, 1984 LAST iconic: Couldn’t tell you, I haven’t been watching. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/25 "2018-10-22T01:57:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I even know the name of the actor off the top of my head: Clara Peller. That’s possibly the only commercial performer whose name I know. I can think of a couple from iconic commercials off the top of my head–[Ellen Feiss](https://youtube.com/watch?v=_GxC4kKD9qA) and [Rachel Lee Cook](https://youtube.com/watch?v=dAHoxaphbEs). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/26 "2018-10-22T01:57:33Z")
“That’s not how this works! That’s not how any of this works!” I’ve seen that one quoted and memes multiple times. But I had to look it up to remember that it was an ad for esurance. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/27 "2018-10-22T02:00:11Z")
In my opinion, an iconic tag line doesn’t necessarily create an iconic commercial. The two categories can be separated. I don’t know if they have to be, but they can be. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/28 "2018-10-22T02:02:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I can think of a couple from iconic commercials off the top of my head–[Ellen Feiss](https://youtube.com/watch?v=_GxC4kKD9qA) and [Rachel Lee Cook](https://youtube.com/watch?v=dAHoxaphbEs). Cool! Never heard of either of them, and I bet when I click the link they still won’t be familiar. Obviously, mileage varies… ETA: right, never heard of either of them. Never seen either of them either.That first one for Apple is pretty annoying…what makes it in your view “iconic”? I do remember “brains on drugs “commercials, but I don’t think that one is an original :-). Again, I’m curious what makes it iconic to you. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/29 "2018-10-22T02:32:18Z")
Uecker: “I must be in the _front row._” Everyone I know refers to the last row of seats in any venue as the “Uecker seats”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/30 "2018-10-22T02:53:19Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Cool! Never heard of either of them, and I bet when I click the link they still won’t be familiar. Obviously, mileage varies… > > ETA: right, never heard of either of them. Never seen either of them either.That first one for Apple is pretty annoying…what makes it in your view “iconic”? I do remember “brains on drugs “commercials, but I don’t think that one is an original :-). Again, I’m curious what makes it iconic to you. Your Brain on Drugs? Yes, I remember that one, and yes it is iconic. The other one isn’t iconic but it was famous for a short time- mostly as a ad that gave Apple a bad rep. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/31 "2018-10-22T02:54:46Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > That first one for Apple is pretty annoying…what makes it in your view “iconic”? Because it is [widely known and well remembered](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22ellen+feiss%22+&oq=%22ellen+feiss%22+&gs_l=mobile-heirloom-serp.12...285742.285742.1.287214.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..34.mobile-heirloom-serp..29.17.8565.9P-ywekXHVs)? Even [here at the dope specificly](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22ellen+feiss%22+site%3A+boards.straightdope.com&oq=%22ellen+feiss%22+site%3A+boards.straightdope.com&gs_l=mobile-heirloom-serp.12...3119.35200.0.36378.45.44.0.1.1.0.1731.22449.6j7j2j5j5j4j11j3j1.44.0....0...1c.1.34.mobile-heirloom-serp..28.17.8565.N0zJoCAomgY). ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/32 "2018-10-22T03:01:21Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Cool! Never heard of either of them, and I bet when I click the link they still won’t be familiar. Obviously, mileage varies… > > ETA: right, never heard of either of them. Never seen either of them either.That first one for Apple is pretty annoying…what makes it in your view “iconic”? I do remember “brains on drugs “commercials, but I don’t think that one is an original :-). Again, I’m curious what makes it iconic to you. It’s iconic as in I dare you to try to find someone who saw it and has forgotten it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/33 "2018-10-22T03:25:37Z")
When I was a kid, there was an anti-drunk driving commercial that had a woman sing a folksy tune that included the line “I want to write a novel that will bring the world to tears” and a voiceover said something about a lonely road and an endless highway. If you go looking for this on Google, you’ll find lots of other people asking about this, and nobody seems to have a link to it or even know who made it. That commercial used to bring ME to tears. Are political commercials allowed? Why, yes, it’s from Bernie Sanders. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2nwRiuh1Cug/hqdefault.jpg "America | Bernie Sanders") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwRiuh1Cug) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/34 "2018-10-22T03:33:09Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > 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. “Dude, you’re getting a cell!” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/35 "2018-10-22T07:05:04Z")
The most recent one I can think of that actually went viral in enough of a way that I noticed it was [Dumb Ways To Die](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw), which was 6 years ago. Still gets reference all the time in my circles. Postdates other meme-ified stuff like The Most Interesting Man in the World. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/36 "2018-10-22T14:30:31Z")
Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man is a great answer. He debuted back in 2006, which surprises me. Everyone knows the Sarah McLachlan “Angel” animal cruelty commercial, but I think when people bring it up it’s probably more in a mocking tone, so doesn’t fit the OP’s criteria. How about Puppy Baby Monkey, from the Mountain Dew commercial during the 2016 Super Bowl? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/37 "2018-10-22T14:37:26Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > It’s iconic as in I dare you to try to find someone who saw it and has forgotten it. I did. And I was _happy_ to have forgotten it. Was Apple trying to market themselves as the computer for brain dead stoners? Like Jack in the Box? Apple’s ads always are weird. Even the 1984 one. I remember it, but it wouldn’t make me buy an Apple. I buy Apple _despite_ their commercials, not _because_ of them. > [@P-man](#): > > " Who are the Chefs? " is probably my favorite from the past 30 years or so. Great googly-moogly! ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/38 "2018-10-22T14:48:55Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > 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) > > [Super Bowl commercials - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_commercials) > > Only one commercial from the entire 2000’s is notable but the 2010’s already has **NINE** “notable” commercials? When you see the term “notable” on a Wikipedia list, that just means that (a) multiple reliable sources (usually news or academic articles) independent of the subject have covered it in some depth, _and_ (b) someone has bothered to write a Wikipedia article on the subject that references those sources. The fact that some commercials are missing from that list doesn’t mean they aren’t “notable”. They might be “notable” in Wikipedia’s sense of the world, but nobody has gotten around to researching and writing an article yet. Or they might be “notable” in the everyday sense of the word—that is, they might be fairly well known due to exposure, but there aren’t enough news or scholarly articles about them to support an encyclopedia article. Anyhow… I used to watch network and cable TV up until about 2000, but never Superbowl or any other sports. The only one of the ad campaigns on the Wikipedia list that I recall seeing on TV is “You Got the Right One Baby”. All the others are either completely unknown to me, or familiar only via cultural references in other media. In a couple cases (“1984” and “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)”) I was curious enough about the cultural references to watch the original ads on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/39 "2018-10-22T14:56:41Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > When I was a kid, there was an anti-drunk driving commercial that had a woman sing a folksy tune that included the line “I want to write a novel that will bring the world to tears” and a voiceover said something about a lonely road and an endless highway. If you go looking for this on Google, you’ll find lots of other people asking about this, and nobody seems to have a link to it or even know who made it. [Guess they never put the question to the SDMB](https://www.oddballfilms.com/clip/13160_13276_highway_safety). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278/40 "2018-10-22T15:48:35Z")
[I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut1jukxCwPs&app=desktop). It was so iconic, it inspired a [sequel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiGYMe1d7No&app=desktop) with Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts of _Everybody Loves Raymond_ fame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-iconic-commercial/823278.md?page=3)