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The 10 Funniest Commercials of All Time

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (53)

terry-tate-tackle.jpg

One of my favorite blogs is Adweek’s blog, AdFreak, which keeps us apprised of the weird and wacky in the advertising industry. They also love lists almost as much as we do, and their latest is the 10 Funniest Commercials of All Time. I encourage you go to go their website and check out all ten, along with their blurbs, which is why I’m only giving you the top five here, including my favorite commercial of all time in at number four. I’ll also note that I’d never seen number one, and I never thought I could laugh as hard at a kick to the junk.

5. Budweiser: Wassup?

4. Reebok: Terry Tate

3. Cadbury: Gorilla

2. Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef?

1. John West Salmon: Bear










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Comments

The Terry Tate one is soooooo funny!

Posted by: samantha t at June 27, 2011 4:13 PM

They left out my personal favorite - the one where the mother and children flee from the animated sun logo from a bottle of orange juice.

Posted by: Keith at June 27, 2011 4:16 PM

Posted by: Keith at June 27, 2011 4:18 PM

I need to hire Terry Tate.

Posted by: Lemon Poundcake at June 27, 2011 4:30 PM

Keith, I wish I could shake your hand. I have been searching for that goddamn commercial clip for years.

Posted by: jM at June 27, 2011 4:42 PM

The bear ad is a classic, but the most I've ever laughed at an ad is Nutrigrain: Feel Great, which I saw in a theater, and it brought the house down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6rE0EakhG8

Posted by: Nick Obi at June 27, 2011 4:43 PM

Posted by: Gholson at June 27, 2011 4:52 PM

The "Wassup" commercial was funny. Until the first time you heard someone say it that wasn't in the commercial; that's when you thought, "oh no." And by the tenth time you heard it you were starting to get annoyed. And by the 1000th time, you were starting to become lost in bloodthirsty rage; you became capable of tearing a human heart out of a person's chest cavity with your bare hands, and eating it quickly enough that the dying fool still had enough life left in his dull, pathetic eyes to watch you swallow it before the cold, impulsive hand of death dragged him to THE ENDLESS FURNACE OF HELL!

And then, 10 years later, it's funny again. The rage remains; but the funny tempers the blood-lust.

Posted by: superasente at June 27, 2011 4:55 PM

The Toys R Us Rain Check commercial is one of my favorties:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZLgbgQ1y18

Posted by: Melody Be at June 27, 2011 5:00 PM

So, is Cadbury calling Phil Collins a gorilla, or saying that Collins is such a bad drummer he doesn't even play on his own tracks?

I always liked the Real Men of Genius radio ads. I thought they were funnier than the TV ads.

Posted by: Three-nineteen at June 27, 2011 5:16 PM

A personal favorite of mine is an M&M commercial from a number of years ago. The regular, peanut, and crispy M&Ms are sitting on a stoop eating their respective type of M&M (i.e. the peanut M&M is eating peanut M&Ms.) Someone walks by (probably a celebrity, but I forget who) and says, "What are you doing? You can eat your own kind!" They all look at their bags, shrug and swap them around.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at June 27, 2011 5:17 PM

Err...can't eat your own kind.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at June 27, 2011 5:25 PM

The E-trade commercial with the baby, "Shankapotumas!"

Posted by: John W at June 27, 2011 5:27 PM

The alternate suggestions are fantastic. A few more, and there's a really good list of The "Other" Funniest Commercials.

Posted by: Dustin Rowles at June 27, 2011 5:32 PM

I agree with most of their list except I hate hate HATE that creepy Starburst lad commercial. I would've picked this Starburst ad instead: Screaming Mime.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at June 27, 2011 5:48 PM

Socrates_Johnson, I think that was Patrick Warburton who says that to the M&Ms.

And yes, it's always tripped me to think of the Yellow Peanut M&M as JK Simmons.

All this time, I still find Terry Tate funny. "They're in for a suprise. A RUDE, PAINFUL SURPRISE!!"

Posted by: Fredo at June 27, 2011 5:58 PM

I laughed so hard the first time I saw Terry Tate that I nearly vomited. I wish I could be Terry Tate.

I got two:

It's the chuckle at the end that really gets me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cmT8M_67ow

And this one, well, Hail to the King, baby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af1OxkFOK18

Posted by: Tracer Bullet at June 27, 2011 6:00 PM

superasente effectively describes the evolution of the "Wassup?" commercial. I'm o.k. with its presence on a list like this, as it was funny the first few times.

Terry Tate is a lot of fun. Was that originally a series of short ads? That clip plays more like a short film than a commercial, and it's not really selling you in the product in the way that the most clever commercials do. Of course, the shoe and cola ads quickly became a pure entertainment contest once the brands became so familiar.

The Cadbury gorilla ad is a little thin.

"Where's the beef?" is of course culturally iconic, but is it actually funny?

The salmon ad is outstanding and deserves the number one slot of these by far.

The Nutrigrain ad and the Sprite/Sunfizz ad mentioned in these comments are both very good.

If fictional commercials were allowed, you could always go to the Simpsons/South Park/SNL well.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at June 27, 2011 6:13 PM

Glad to see props to Clara Peller.

Who airs a 3:41 commercial?

Posted by: , at June 27, 2011 6:40 PM

i alwayys thought this was the funniest comercial ever...

http://youtu.be/S7tJ4Mou9K0

Posted by: joe at June 27, 2011 6:40 PM

Mama mia, this is one of the greats:

www.veoh.com/watch/v14932010FdJ3MzXQ

Posted by: , at June 27, 2011 6:50 PM

Put your breasts in my hands -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygNJNtG-TRE

Posted by: Mrs. Julien at June 27, 2011 7:46 PM

As I scrolled down the main page only the title of the post came into view and in my head I immediately went "I hope Terry Tate makes that list".

I was pleasantly surprised.

It still makes me laugh to this day. "Hey, Janice".

Posted by: pattonbt at June 27, 2011 8:02 PM

My favorite is this one. It happens to have that guy from "30 Rock" in it. My favorite line is, "Guess I'm having tea." Though usually the Main Squeeze, his brother, and I say it much more enthusiastically then it's said in the commercial.

Posted by: tamatha at June 27, 2011 9:17 PM

http://youtu.be/db72pHYH9_c

This commercial makes me laugh to this day.

Posted by: Colin at June 27, 2011 9:43 PM

Posted by: shake at June 27, 2011 10:27 PM

This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSW1m83GqzY
Not sure if this ever actually ran on tv, but goddamn do I love it.

Posted by: dr. pisaster at June 27, 2011 10:33 PM

Just Google "World's funniest commercial" and you can keep yourself laughing until you're sick. Most of the best ones are from Europe or Asia, and you often can't tell what they're advertising until the end.

Posted by: Uriah Creep at June 27, 2011 10:35 PM

Yeah mock if you will (and you will), but I still think "Whazzzup?" is funny. I still have friends I do that with on occasion.

...

Don't judge me, ya pervs.

Posted by: Green Lantern at June 27, 2011 10:54 PM

Mug had some "that's thick headed" commercials, but my favorite was the guy who keeps calling his customer "Mr. DumbAss". Finally the customer says "It's pronounced Dumas!" Still use the Dumas line at home.

Posted by: Uncle JR at June 27, 2011 11:42 PM

Always loved the Terry Tate commercials. Still my fave.

Always hated that stupid gorilla ad. Dumb.

And if you're saying Phil Collins isn't a good drummer, then you have no idea what you're talking about and no idea how many of your favorite songs had Phil session drumming for and how much he contributed to Genesis and music in general, despite his late career dorkishness. He may be a silly tool, but he's definitely one of the under-appreciated giants of the music industry.

Posted by: Protoguy at June 28, 2011 12:26 AM

What, no Panda Cheese? Disgraceful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWywHqHCrSA

Every one of these has me laughing my butt off every time.

Posted by: Erin S at June 28, 2011 12:34 AM

Posted by: P at June 28, 2011 1:23 AM

Triple T is by far the funniest.

Posted by: James at June 28, 2011 2:37 AM

Your no. 1 is my no. 1 too. It's fucking brilliant.

Posted by: Zirze at June 28, 2011 4:12 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY6uJlI-t14

This beer ad still makes me laugh so hard. In fact Carlton Draught always have awesome ads. They have a "slo-mo" one right now which is pretty good too.

Posted by: kateo at June 28, 2011 5:23 AM

Posted by: Uncle JR at June 28, 2011 5:28 AM

Seriously? The Wassup ad?

Posted by: Grafty at June 28, 2011 5:38 AM

How come the title is The 10 Funniest Commericals ... but you only have 5? :( I loves me some commericals.

Vote here for the cat herding commercial.

Posted by: Darcy at June 28, 2011 6:10 AM

My favorite funniest commercials:

The Bud Light Farting Horse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GbIhQLCH9I

Outpost.com Gerbil Cannon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzbMcsrK-tw

Bizarre Orangina ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKK37G-ZWvk

Posted by: The Wanderer at June 28, 2011 8:33 AM

Healthy Choice: "It reminds me of a trip I took to Asia, far away from this miserable job."

"I shouldn't but I agree. We're all dead inside."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH0s0rmgVzs

Posted by: twig at June 28, 2011 9:26 AM

One of my favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L82YAaC7PzU

I go to bed every night, knowing that one day, I'll be the woman next to the tootin' cold bastard.

Posted by: Lexie at June 28, 2011 9:36 AM

Terry Tate was an amazing series of commercials. My personal #2, though Salmon Bear is pretty awe inspiring.

Number one, however (and i'm shocked and saddened the folks at AdFreak didn't recognize it) is, unequivocally, Nutrigrain's unaired "Feel Great" commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6rE0EakhG8

Perhaps because it never aired it's out of the running. That's the only solace i'm taking.

Posted by: marty at June 28, 2011 10:37 AM

I love the "What Are You Doing?!" yuppie follow-up to the Whazzup commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PQogX88yjg

Posted by: Sasha at June 28, 2011 11:48 AM

"Babies EVERYWHERE!!!!"

Posted by: Wormer at June 28, 2011 12:01 PM

Posted by: Billdog at June 28, 2011 1:40 PM

The Terry Tate commercials/videos were great. My favorite was the Sarah Palin one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ

Posted by: foolsage at June 28, 2011 2:19 PM

"I always liked the Real Men of Genius radio ads. I thought they were funnier than the TV ads."

Ditto!

Posted by: Laura at June 28, 2011 2:31 PM

Thanks Fredo! I totally remember that now.

Also the red M&M is Billy West, who's been making a case for himself as one of the great voice actors of all time.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at June 28, 2011 3:43 PM

Darcy, the herding cats commercial is my pick too! I also thing the Real Men of Genius radio ads rock!

Posted by: emmasaunt at July 3, 2011 12:45 PM

This post...so high...again?

Posted by: James at July 4, 2011 11:30 PM

Did anyone get that Terry works for Felcher & Sons? Bwahahahaha!

Posted by: MotoJ at July 5, 2011 2:01 PM

I worked on almost all the Terry Tate spots- we were crying so hard from laughing- all the hits are real. The director went on to direct "Dodgeball" (alas, they used all of Ben's people).

Posted by: pkitty at July 8, 2011 2:55 AM