The 80s and 90s were a different era in television than today. For starters, the idea of being on TV was still really big and there weren’t a lot of channels. Things on TV were more special and that included commercials. Here are 10 of my favorites.

Toys R Us Kids. That’s what pretty much every kid felt like that watched that. There wasn’t even a Toys R Us in my town but going to the toy store happened more than once because I saw this commercial.  A great jingle that worked.

McDonald’s ran a million successful promotions in the 80s and 90s. I had to pick one which was tough. I went with Dick Tracy because, although the movie itself was average if not a little weird, the tie-in made it must-see for me and was so much fun to go to McDonald’s to participate in, thanks to the scratch-off cards.

There were lots of Nintendo commercials that I could have included here and almost did the Mario Kart commercial, but this one was a little more special to me. This is how commercials were in the 90s for videogames – crazy.

I don’t know how a bunch of cows got together and bought ads for milk but they did and they’ve always been pretty hip. Before “Got Milk” was “Milk – It does a body good.” and this series of ads.

Gets your skis shined up, grab a stick of juicy fruit.” We’re commanded, by someone who wounds pretty damned cool. “Take a sniiiiff. Pull it out.” We are then told to do, in a line that sounds a little like a gross statement made during sex. This commercial was epic and the fact is, Juicy Fruit sucks total DICK.

Funky beat, wild neon colors, you know its 1990s time. Always Coca Cola was a great jingle that kept the commercial in our minds long after the commercial went away. Catchy jingles and simple commercials.

Like a Rock…that was Chevy’s thing in the 90s and it was hugely successful. It was also great for making fun of kids who got boners in school.

Waking up sucks. I hate it. It’s like being born every day – traumatic. But Foldgers understood this and capitalized with their coffee advertisements. Sure, I think their coffee is too acidic for my tastes most of the time but still, “The best part of waking up is Foldgers in your cup” has become iconic and inspired lots of jokes about doing drugs.

On the subject of waking up, cereal is well known as the greatest culinary mastery ever according to a survey conducted of people named me. One of those cereals that sucked was known as Corn Pops. The stuff smelled like a piss you would take after a long night drinking, really. I never liked it but they marketed it well and a lot of people had it in their house.

I’m always surprised when I see that Hershey’s Whatchamacallit is still around. It was probably my favorite candy bar as a kid and due in no small part to their advertising. It made it seem so cool and edgy to eat.

---

Got a suggestion for your favorite classic commercials? Leave a comment here and if it gets used, you will get credit!