For as long as we can remember, ads have bombarded the airwaves, eager to sell us on the next new thing or to bolster a proven product. Whether it's candy, music, or even soda pop, ads have constantly transformed to encapsulate an era or even hail the beginning of a new one. At right.video, we wanted to take a moment to look back at the ads of yesteryear, captivating advertising isn’t just a phenomenon of today but rather an integral part in the way we shape our videos. We’ll be showcasing the best classic ads from the past sixty years, admiring the brilliance of their simplicity and the draw of their staying power. Perhaps some of these will inspire your own video work and you may even pick up a tip or two.
Director: Jimmy T. Murakami
Production Company | Agency: Doner
If you were a child growing up in the United States, then you’re no doubt familiar with this particular ad from 1970. A boy’s innocent question about how many licks it takes to get to the middle of his lollipop involves a farmyard’s worth of animals all passing the buck before an owl gets the last bite. Though the animation is crude by today’s standards, the brilliance of the ad comes from its memories of childhood and the simple pleasures of candy. The fact that this ad still airs to this day, albeit heavily shortened, is a testament to its timelessness.
Director: Harvey Gabor
Production Company | Agency: McCann Erickson
Working off of a catchy song jingle masterminded by the advertising agency McCann Erickson, Coca-Cola’s famous “Hilltop” ad captured the serenity of the world coming together in harmony, all united by the taste of the soft drink. It was said that this ad was created by McCann Erickson’s chief ad man, Bill Backer, when he was delayed at an Irish airport amid heated travelers. It was when his present company were sharing bottles of Coke that Backer would pen the famous “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” line on a napkin and work to make the pen strokes a reality. Such was the influence of this vintage ad that the AMC drama Mad Men ended its run with this very commercial as its final scene.
Director: Joel Sedelmaier
Production Company | Agency: Dancer Fitzgerald Sample
Sometimes phrases that have long endured in the public lexicon can be found in the most unlikely of places, often in vintage ads. This fast food restaurant commercial was designed with one goal in mind: showing that the Wendy’s brand had the most meat on its proverbial bones. Yet it was the delivery of the ad’s signature line by the ad’s elderly lead, Clara Peller, that launched the ad to minor fame for the next year. Though the campaign ended when its star was featured in a rival food company commercial, the signature line continues to endure in North America, becoming short-hand for lack of substance. This ad, though, had plenty of beef.
Director: Ridley Scott
Production Company | Agency: Fairbanks Films/Chiat\Day
There was no doubt that Apple would make this list, right? This Super Bowl ad by acclaimed director Ridley Scott landed with a seismic reaction that had not been felt in television advertising before and, arguably, since. Riffing on George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, “1984” encapsulates the Apple mindset, reinventing the personal computer with the original Macintosh computer decades before the company would do the same for cellphones in the new millennium. Its impact can be felt in all Super Bowl ads that followed in the years since, focusing on high-concept ideas, A-list directors, and million-dollar production values. Not too shabby for an ad that only ever aired once.
Production Company | Agency: DDB Worldwide
No doubt, one of the advertising industry’s most beloved mascots is the famous Energizer bunny. He got his start in commercials directly going after rival Duracell, acting as a riff on the battery company’s drumming bunny. But it was in this commercial that the Energizer bunny began to truly live up to Energizer’s slogan of keep on going, escaping the confines of his own commercial and into numerous others as an unwanted guest. It was a mix of comedy and metacommentary that helped make this particular bunny his very own lease on life.
Director: Joe Pytka
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy
It’s not every day that a pair of commercials directly inspire the making of a cult family classic. This pair of ads from sports apparel maker Nike feature famed basketball player Michael Jordan at the peak of his career with the added bonus of animation icon Bugs Bunny. These commercials make this list not necessarily due to the ads themselves, though they are highly creative, but rather what they ended up creating in its wake. Jordan’s celebrity, with the surreal nature of playing basketball with the famous cartoon character, would ultimately fuel the development of the live-action/animated sports film Space Jam in 1996. The movie would become a runaway box office smash and helped sell the Looney Tunes cast of characters as street fashions icons in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Needless to say, there is a generation of children and young adults whose Air Jordans are still adorned by that ‘wascally wabbit’.
Production Company | Agency: BBDO New York
One of the most beloved commercials produced over the decades, the Campbell’s ‘Snowman’ ad helped capture a nostalgic sense of home and warmth since its initial debut in 1993. With a jazzy take on “Let it Snow'' hovering over the video, a cold snowman re enters its home and is warmed up with the delicious taste of soup, becoming a young boy once more. Though not conceived as a Christmas ad, it has seen heavy rotation during the holiday season and is a welcome sight in the cold dead of winter.
Director: Edward Boches
Production Company: Hungry Man Productions
Agency: MullenLowes
With a single black-and-white commercial, Monster.com transformed itself from a little-known job search engine into one of the first early successes of the dot com era. With children subtly airing the tedium of everyday workers, it helped strike with those grieving how their lives turned out in their careers. It was a darkly funny satire that elevated Monster.com to heights that it hasn’t seen since.
Production Company | Agency: Havas Worldwide
Though there have been fantastic ads from well-known companies, often the best types of ads are the ones that turn the fortunes of a little known entity. Such was the case with Dos Equis which, before the launch of the “Interesting Man” campaign, was a little known beer brand. This perception quickly changed overnight, recreating Dos Equis as a beer with an aura of mystique that its high-class gentleman spokesperson exemplified. Whether it was discovering the Fountain of Youth, wrestling with bears, or fishing marlins right out of The Old Man and the Sea, Jonathan Goldsmith’s elder adventurer exuded an outrageous Hemingway-persona that enthralled millions and sold lucrative amounts of beer.
Director: Tom Kuntz
Agency: Widen + Kennedy
Perhaps the only commercial that could prove to be the epitome of the word ‘charisma’, Old Spice launched this ad campaign at the beginning of the last decade with an extremely self-aware and comedic spokesman. The ‘Old Spice Man, as he came to be known, proved to be an early viral hit with his chiseled chest, instantly appearing on a horse, and turning an oyster into diamonds. It riffed on hyper masculinity and the idea of becoming such an exotic man could only be done if you had the aromas of Old Spice.
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In our humble opinion, we think that these are the best vintage ads that you can find right here on the right.video search engine. We hope that these choices are the perfect gateway to the world of vintage advertisement and that they might help you set the mood for your next video!
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