12 Classic Commercials We'll Never Forget

How many times have you heard a commercial jingle or slogan that you couldn’t get out of your head? You know the ones. They are so catchy you even remember them from your childhood. Now that’s great advertising! Here are our picks for some of the most memorable sales pitches from years gone by.

1. Ancient Chinese Secret

How do you get shirts really clean? That’s an “ancient Chinese secret,” of course! The commercial for Calgon detergent ran in the 1970s and it’s one we never forgot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJP5f-fsHrs

2. Oscar Mayer Bologna

“My baloney has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R. My baloney has second name it’s M-A-Y-E-R.” We were all singing this little ditty. And the kid was so darn cute, wasn’t he?

3. Life Cereal

Who could forget the little boy who hates everything — except Life cereal? Such a classic! I bet they sold a lot of cereal with this commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx-TINc

4. Tootisie Pops

How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? Ask Mr. Owl, for he is the wisest of us all. When we tried it out, it took a lot more than three.

5. Where’s the Beef?

Wendy’s hit a homerun when they hired little 81-year-old Clara Peller to star in their burger commercials. People still quote her iconic line today.

6. Dunkin’ Donuts

“Time to make the donuts…” Dunkin’ Donuts sold millions of the round fat traps from this memorable ad. Because who doesn’t love donuts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=petqFm94osQ

7. Kool-Aid

Hey Kool-Aid! Who could forget the great big pitcher of cherry Kool-Aid crashing through the wall? Oh yeah! Family Guy even did an episode paying homage to the big guy.

8. Your Brain on Drugs

Your brain on drugs looked a lot like — an egg! This hugely popular anti-drug commercial taught us that drugs were bad. Any questions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_a2t0ZfTs

9. 1984 Apple Macintosh

This was a very obvious hat tip to legendary George Orwell and his futuristic novel 1984 (eerily true). Although it is often on lists of the best commercials of all time, this one leaves us scratching our heads. “You’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I

10. Life Alert

Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! Spoofed by many sitcoms after it aired, the commercial remains a classic. Most people have said that at least once — guaranteed!

11. Old Spice

My dad used to wear Old Spice when I was a kid and to this day it’s one of my favorite smells. The man your man could smell like, and the signature whistle. Brilliant!