The 50 Best Commercials of All Time

45 NIKE

"MUNOZ"

It could have been seen as exploiting a tragic epidemic to sell sneakers. But the $100,000 ad showing HIV-positive marathoner Ric Munoz succeeded as an inspiring AIDS story, a Madison Avenue first. The classy approach: narration-free images and stark titles ("80 miles every week...10 marathons every year...HIV-positive...Just do it"). Says writer Jim LeMaitre, "There was no need to dramatize." And yes, Munoz is still running. AGENCY: Wieden & Kennedy YEAR: 1995

46 QUISP AND QUAKE

"QUISP VS. QUAKE"

Delightful wise-guy wackiness from Jay Ward Productions, which gave us Rocky, Bullwinkle, and the Cap'n Crunch commercials. Also notable for pushing two cereals in one ad: Dithery alien Quisp raves about the product bearing his name ("The biggest-selling cereal from Saturn to Alpha Centauri!"); Quake disagrees. A hard-hatted miner, big of jaw and small of brain (think George of the Jungle), he was voiced by William "Cannon" Conrad.
AGENCY: Compton
YEAR: 1965

47 CHEER DETERGENT

"HANDKERCHIEF"

As grand opera swells, a silent, portly fellow—Second City alum JoBe Cerny—takes a dirty handkerchief and plunges it into a cocktail shaker, adding Cheer detergent, water, and ice. A couple of shakes and, voila!, the handkerchief is gleaming. The ad's stylistic paradox—visual minimalism and musical maximalism—is a blissful assault that somehow conveys the notion that high culture is cleansing. Not your usual TV message.
AGENCY: Leo Burnett
YEAR: 1987

48 TRIX

"FIRST RABBIT"

Trix's obsessive rodent made Madison Avenue safe for lovable losers. (Soon to follow: Charlie the Tuna.) In his quest for "raspberry red, lemon yellow, orange orange," our antihero has donned 40-plus disguises. The inevitable rebuke: "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids." Now voiced by Russell Horton (Annie Hall's pretentious moviegoer), the rabbit foreshadowed Cosby's Jell-O ads in "empowering kids," says current creative director Dave Shea.
AGENCY: Dancer Fitzgerald Sample
YEAR: 1959

49 MENTOS

"THE FRESHMAKER"

A rarity: pure, unself-conscious camp. The Dutch candy's campaign, with its '70s-style Euro-pop jingle and corny acting, irked as many as it pleased. Nevertheless, the spots boosted Mentos' visibility in America, especially among Gen-Xers with a taste for goofiness. Trend-setting ads that even inspired an MTV Video Music Award winner—the Foo Fighters' "Big Me"—they're prized for what video director Jesse Peretz calls their air of "total lobotomized happiness."
AGENCY: Pahnke & Partners
YEAR: 1992

50 THE VEG-O-MATIC

"IT SLICES, IT DICES"

Without Ron Popeil, Cher would be just another rock star/Oscar winner. This hyperkinetic salesman is considered the grandpa of the infomercial, a genre as American as mock apple pie. Popeil has squeezed out roughly 50 ads (including Pocket Fisherman, spray-on hair), the first for a mere $550. But his pitch for Veg-O-Matic, a slicer/dicer/julienner, was his Sistine Chapel. With trademark understatement, he called it "world-famous... amazing...tremendous!"
AGENCY: Ron Popeil
YEAR: late '50s