The new online exhibit “We’ll Be Right Back: Eight Decades of Television Commercials’ will debut throughout spring 2025. The exhibit will start in the earliest days of television programming and chronicles the growth of TV advertising to streaming ads, from simple product placement to an art form all its own. Visitors will be treated to some of the most creative, innovative, and groundbreaking advertising work from the 40’s through today, as well as a look at Chicago’s most memorable jingles, political advertising, infomercials, public service announcements and more.

TOP 20

COMMERCIALS

From 1967-2024, here are The Museum of Broadcast Communications’ picks for the 20 Top Super Bowl Commercials of All-Time.

#1

COCA COLA | “HEY KID, CATCH!” | MEAN JOE GREENE (1980)

The Coca-Cola “Hey Kid, Catch” ad from Super Bowl XIV, featuring “Mean” Joe Greene and a starstruck little boy, holds its own as the best Super Bowl ad ever. After a hard fought football game, Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive Tackle Joe Greene limps alone into a stadium tunnel to regroup in the locker room. A young boy quietly approaches the football star and offers him a bottle of Coca-Cola to soften the blow of what has obviously been a hard day.  While the commercial debuted on October 1, 1979 on ABC’s Monday Night Football, it is best remembered for the impact the spot made during Super Bowl XIV in 1980.

#2

APPLE | 1984 | APPLE WILL INTRODUCE THE MACINTOSH (1984)

This iconic commercial announced the arrival of the groundbreaking Macintosh, showing a dystopian society of gray-looking men with identical monochrome outfits and shaved heads watching a leader on a large screen. Then a young woman wearing running shorts and a t-shirt sprints into the room chased by helmeted police, and throws a hammer at the screen exploding it into a white light. The spot helped to change not just how people thought about having a computer in their homes, but it also changed the way the America’s top companies thought about advertising during the Super Bowl.

#3

COCA-COLA | HILLTOP (1972)

The spot actually first aired on national TV on July 8, 1971, but is widely remembered for its presence in Super Bowl VI. "I'd like to buy the world a home, and furnish it with love," a young woman earnestly sings at the start of this spot. The camera pulls back and we see another young woman and man join in on the next verse: “Grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow-white turtle doves." They're all holding bottles of Coca-Cola, as are the others we can see surrounding them as the camera pulls back even further. The chorus kicks in -- "I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony" -- and now we see a multicultural cast of dozens of teens and twentysomethings all singing in harmony.

#4

VOLKSWAGEN | THE FORCE (2012)

The Volkswagen Passat commercial features a child dressed in a Darth Vader costume who’s determined to channel the force. While Darth Vader’s "Star Wars" theme “The Imperial March” plays, the young, costumed Vader walks the halls of his house trying to move objects with all of his might – the dog, the laundry machine, a baby doll. He reaches out his hands toward the car when suddenly, it revs its engine. The little Darth Vader can’t believe it as his parents watch from the house with the car's keys and remote starter in hand.

#5

BUDWEISER | WASSUP? (2000)

Five friends are checking in on the phone, prompting each other with the exaggerated greeting that necessitates a floppy tongue and open mouth. Bookending the chorus of "wassup" are two friends having a simple exchange, both with one hand on the phone and another on their Budweiser beer bottles.

#6

SNICKERS | BETTY WHITE & ABE VIGODA (2010)

This iconic ad centered around a football game, the plot stemming from an idea that an athlete will play like the aging Betty White when hungry. At the time, 88 year old Betty White (former Museum of Broadcast Communications Board Member) surged back into limelight.

DIET PEPSI | APARTMENT 10G | MICHAEL J. FOX (1987)

#7

A young man played by Michael J. Fox has just arrived home at his apartment when he hears a knock at the door. The attractive woman who lives next door comes in and asks to borrow a Diet Pepsi. Fox discovers he has just run out, so he climbs out the window and down the fire escape in the pouring rain. He crosses the street and buys a Diet Pepsi from a soda machine. When he gets back to his apartment, he finds that his new neighbor's roommate Danielle would like one too.

#8

WENDY’S | WHERE’S THE BEEF | CLARA PELLER (1984)

The ad, originally titled “Fluffy Bun” featured three grey-haired grannies examining a new burger — with a tiny patty and a huge bun. While the other two women admired the “big, fluffy bun,” Clara Peller wasn’t satisfied, demanding “Where’s the beef?”  The catchphrase weaved its way into the 1984 Democratic primary with Sen. Gary Hart and Vice President Walter Mondale, and into popular culture as term for something lacking substance.

#9

CHRYSLER | HALFTIME IN AMERICA | CLINT EASTWOOD (2012)

Clint Eastwood performs a monologue comparing the economic recession to a football game. The text of the speech, and Eastwood’s performance, reflects the kind of “pump up” speech that a football coach or a captain might give in the locker room to inspire a losing team before returning to the field to play the second half of a game. The ad describes the Chrysler corporation, the auto industry in general, Detroit (the “Motor City”), and the United States as a fighter that has been knocked down and must rally to get back up. 

#10

XEROX | MONKS (1977)

In 1977, Xerox debuted perhaps the first “viral” commercial. Brother Dominic, played by actor Jack Eagle, shows up to turn in his handwritten duplications in the monastery. As he does so, he is given the additional task of making 500 duplicate copies. Because the Xerox machine could copy at the rate of two pages per second, the job is finished quickly and he returns a large pile of papers to a very surprised monk.

#11

Filmed in 1992 at the Rosemont Horizon (rechristened as Allstate Arena in 1999) in Rosemont IL, the ad begins with Bird shooting baskets in an empty arena as Jordan sits down with his lunch: a McDonald’s bag with a Big Mac and fries. Bird looks at Jordan and after challenging him to play for it, adds, “First one to miss watches the winner eat.” Moments later, he adds “No dunking.” With that, Jordan and Bird match one another in a sequence of increasingly ridiculous shots, bouncing balls off the scoreboard and over the rafters. It ends with Bird and Jordan plotting shots from the top of Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center. 

MCDONALDS | THE SHOWDOWN | MICHAEL JORDAN & LARRY BIRD (1993)

#12

BUDWEISER | WHEN YOU SAY BUD (1986)

The Budweiser Clydesdales have been a part of the big game since the 1986 Super Bowl, when the Clydesdales tromped through the snow.


"When You Say Budweiser, You've Said It All,"  published in 1970, was featured in several Budweiser commercials. Part of its lyrics inspired Budweiser's 1972 anthem "Here Comes the King." The award-winning anthem was a hit from the moment it first aired. Sonny & Cher recorded a song titled, “When You Say Love,” written by two country songwriters using the tune of this jingle. The song is often heard as the theme for the brand's winter-themed TV commercials.

#13

OLD SPICE | THE MAN YOUR MAN COULD SMELL LIKE (2010)

The ad starts by addressing the viewer in confident, rapid-fire monologues which promote the benefit of using Old Spice products. While reciting the monologues, Isaiah Mustafa (former NFL wide receiver) progresses through various activities, locations, costumes, and extraordinary situations, all in one uninterrupted take while maintaining constant eye-contact with the camera in a nonchalant demeanor. Shot on a beach, on the mock-up of a three-walled bathroom. The bathroom gets lifted, to reveal the back of a boat. Even more clever, Mustafa then gets on a moving platform that seamlessly drops him onto a horse.

#14

AMAZON | ALEXA LOSES HER VOICE (2018)

Amazon showcased Alexa’s capabilities by removing them. So to not take Alexa for granted, she is replaced by Gordon Ramsay engaging in one of his trademark verbal assaults on a man asking how to make grilled cheese, Rebel Wilson setting the mood while enjoying a bubble bath, Cardi B trying to figure out why anyone would want to go to Mars in reply to someone asking how far the planet is, and a nod to the infamous Hannibal Lecter by Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins.

#15

NOXZEMA | CREAM YOUR FACE | JOE NAMATH & FARRAH FAWCETT (1973)

The first major Super Bowl ad came in 1973 for Noxzema titled "Cream Your Face" featuring an unknown Farrah Fawcett and New York Jets football star Joe Namath. Namath exclaims, “I’m so excited. I’m gonna get creamed,” and the future “Charlie’s Angels” actress Farrah Fawcett walks up to rub Noxzema shaving cream on Namath as a jingle plays in the background, asking viewers to “Let Noxzema Cream Your Face.”

#16

BUDWEISER | THE BUDWEISER FROGS (1995)

The commercial began with a scene of a swamp at nighttime, and a close-up of Bud rhythmically croaking his name. Later, Weis and Er join in. They croak rather randomly for about ten seconds, until Bud, Weis, and Er begin croaking in sequence, thus forming the Budweiser name.

#17

DODGE | GOD MADE A FARMER | PAUL HARVEY (2013)

Radio Hall of Famer, the late Paul Harvey (long-time benefactor of MBC), narrated a speech originally made in 1978 to the Future Farmers of America. The speech borrowed a few phrases from a 1975 article written by Harvey, which was itself inspired by parts of a 1940 essay published in The Farmer-Stockman, which attempted to define a dirt farmer. The speech was given as an extension of the Genesis creation narrative referring to God's actions on the 8th day of creation.

#18

CBS LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN | WATCHING THE GAME | DAVID LETTERMAN, OPRAH WINFREY & JAY LENO (2018)

Late night fans got the surprise of a lifetime during the second quarter of Super Bowl XLIV when they saw Jay Leno sitting side-by-side with David Letterman in a promo for CBS’ Late Show. Appearing with Oprah Winfrey, Letterman laments about how bad the party is, and Leno retorts “he’s just saying that because I’m here.” Minutes after the spot, CBS sent out word that the two late night stars taped the spot at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. The :15 spot was shot in roughly 20 minutes on a living room set constructed inside the theater. Leno and Winfrey secretly flew to New York for the filming, with Leno wearing a disguise including a hooded sweatshirt, glasses and a fake mustache, as he slipped in to record the commercial.

#19

PEPSI | JUST ONE LOOK | CINDY CRAWFORD (1992)

Supermodel Cindy Crawford drives up to a country cafe and gas station in a red Ferrari. The doors of the car open up and she steps out as two young boys walk up to a nearby fence to watch. Wearing a white tank top and short jean shorts, she walks to a Pepsi vending machine and buys a can. She takes a long sip and just when you think the boys will comment on her looks, they instead comment on the new styling of the Pepsi can. Crawford was part of a 90’s Pepsi endorsement roster that also included Madonna, Michael Jackson and Michael J. Fox, but this ad was one of the brand’s best-remembered. 

#20

MASTER LOCK | TOUGH UNDER FIRE (1974)

Back when spots cost $107,000, longtime Super Bowl advertiser Master Lock devoted its entire marketing budget to a 30-second spot in the game. Under the “Tough Under Fire” slogan, it featured a sharpshooter, a rifle and a No. 15 lock attached to a target. As the shooter takes aim, the voiceover explains that the high-powered weapon will attempt to blast open the lock. In slow motion, we see a direct hit on the lock, but it remains intact—the lock doesn’t open. The final note of the spot: “If you want to hold on to what you’ve got, insist on genuine Master Locks, known for being tough under fire.”