Items21The creator’s order
  1. 1PepsiPepsiPepsi with Cindy Crawford, Super Bowl XXVI, 1992 For most of its runtime this plays as a straight glamour spot, every shot fixed on Cindy Crawford and her soda. Then the two kids watching her get the last word, and it turns out their attention was somewhere else entirely. The whole joke is the…0
  2. 2McDonald'sMcDonald'sMcDonald's "The Showdown" with Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, Super Bowl XXVII, 1993 Two of the biggest names in basketball play a shooting game for a Big Mac, and every shot gets more absurd than the last. The humor comes from escalation and from watching two fierce competitors try to top each…0
  3. 3Budweiser FrogsBudweiser FrogsBudweiser, Super Bowl XXIX, 1995 Three frogs in a swamp croak one syllable each until the brand name comes together. It is a joke built entirely on timing and patience, and it shows how far a dumb, simple idea can travel when it is executed precisely. The frogs proved so popular that they kept…0
  4. 4Cat HerdersCat HerdersEDS, Super Bowl XXXIV, 2000 Weathered cowboys talk about their life's work with total sincerity, except the herd is thousands of house cats. The spot takes the office cliché about impossible tasks and stages it as a full Western epic, and the craft is what sells it: a cowboy running a lint roller…0
  5. 5Terry Tate: Office LinebackerTerry Tate: Office Linebacker 7.9/10 on IMDbReebok, Super Bowl XXXVII, 2003 An office hires a full-size linebacker to enforce workplace etiquette, and he tackles anyone who leaves the coffee pot empty or slacks off at their desk. The violence is cartoonish and the speeches between hits are even better. Terry Tate debuted in this game and…0
  6. 6FedExFedExFedEx "Cast Away" parody, Super Bowl XXXVII, 2003 A FedEx employee, stranded on a desert island, finally delivers the one package he kept safe the whole time, and the customer's answer about what was inside is the punchline. It works best if you have seen the Tom Hanks film it spoofs, but the gag…0
  7. 7E-TradeE-TradeE*Trade talking baby, Super Bowl XLII, 2008 A baby sits at a computer, makes a stock trade with a single click and talks it through with the deadpan confidence of a seasoned broker. The voice coming out of a toddler is the entire gag, and it should wear thin after one viewing, yet it kept working.…0
  8. 8Tide (brand)Tide (brand)Tide to Go "Talking Stain," Super Bowl XLII, 2008 A job candidate tries to make his case while the stain on his shirt drowns him out with loud gibberish, and the interviewer cannot hear anything else. It is the most literal possible way to show a stain stealing attention, and the silliness of the…0
  9. 9DoritosDoritosDoritos "Free Doritos," Super Bowl XLIII, 2009 An office worker insists his crystal ball predicts free Doritos, then hurls it at the vending machine to make the prophecy come true. The ball is really a snow globe, and the follow-up joke at the end is just as blunt. This was a fan-made entry from…0
  10. 10SnickersSnickersSnickers "Game" with Betty White and Abe Vigoda, Super Bowl XLIV, 2010 A hungry guy in a backyard football game is playing like Betty White, so he is literally Betty White, getting flattened in the mud and trading insults with his teammates. One bite of Snickers and he is himself again. The spot…0