Times Square before Disney: Ads for 1970s "Leisure Spas" (SLYT)
posted by CunningLinguist on Mar 24, 2009 - 33 comments

Joe Sedelmaier showed us where the beef is, and in doing so, revolutionized television advertising (aside from spawning a Clara Peller 7" and influencing the 1984 US elections). Here are some of Sedelmaier's greatest moments: Wendy's: Soviet Fashion Show | "Parts is Parts" • FedEx: "You can't count on anything these days!" | The Classic Speed Talker (John Moschitta, previously) • Pearson's Salted Nut Roll (with Godwin effect) • Fibreglas Pink (Canada) • Kaypro Computers • Alaska Airlines • Clara Peller in Jartran Truck Rental • Hayworth Furniture Systems • GMAC Financing • And for those missing individually, Youtuber jerry7242 has posted a reel of 30 minutes' worth of Joe Sedelmaier's commercials in four parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (#4 includes an interview with Joe Sedelmaier) Enjoy! [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Feb 9, 2009 - 8 comments

Beware the San Francisco values! [more inside]
posted by serazin on May 24, 2008 - 46 comments

An amazing collection of classic American television commercials. Sorted by category: Eat, Drink, Smoke, Clean, Groom, Shop and Travel. Includes descriptions and historical background. The commercials can be viewed in either RealPlayer or MediaPlayer format, and newer ones will work in both IE and Firefox.
posted by amyms on Apr 10, 2007 - 7 comments

Light Criticism is the newest project by Graffiti Research Lab and the Anti-Advertising Agency.
posted by fandango_matt on Jan 25, 2007 - 23 comments

BestAdsonTV.com Browse TV spots from around the world at this industry site highlighting new creative work. Highly rated ads include this one for Carlton beer, this sober PSA, this lovely one for the California lottery and a fun take on evolution for Guinness. And then there's this, um, sausage ad. Browse the controversies (mostly complaints about copycats), ads from Romania and Iceland and Belgium, or last year's best ads. Many of the most amusing seem to be for beer.
posted by CunningLinguist on Dec 23, 2006 - 8 comments

Is is just me, or have Superbowl ads gotten way too predictable. Here's hoping this year offers something new. 2006 brings Fabio sinking a gondola, an approved(!) GoDaddy ad, the first ever bilingual ad, and the commercials being offered on DVD and PodCast. Also keep an eye out for muppets, macgyver and machetes.

I hate linking to heavy, but they have all the banned ads, some of which are funny (especially the anti-mac one) and some were just made to be banned. You can see previous years' ads at iFilm.
posted by FeldBum on Feb 2, 2006 - 47 comments

Viacom's CBS today rejected a request from liberal group MoveOn to air a 30-second anti-President Bush ad, saying the spot violated the network's policy against running issue advocacy advertising. This, despite running anti-drug and anti-smoking ads. So, is it only issues about which they disagree?
posted by dejah420 on Jan 16, 2004 - 57 comments

10 ads courtesy of AdAge.com (N.S.F.America)
posted by boost ventilator on Dec 23, 2003 - 21 comments

Channel 118. The 118118 experience. [possibly nsfw]
posted by ginz on Aug 6, 2003 - 14 comments

Okaaaaaaaaaaaay Daaaaaaaaaavey! After a 31 year absence, Davey and Goliath are making their return to television. It's funny, I had no idea it was religious programming until years after I stopped watching it. Oh, and this news explains explains those great Mountain Dew ads...
posted by chumptastic on Aug 7, 2002 - 12 comments

Popup ads on your TV So, the media moguls have decided that they're tired of you ignoring their advertising...and thus, they will now insert popup ads into the live feeds. And you thought product placement was annoying. From Slashdot
posted by dejah420 on Jul 16, 2002 - 48 comments

More on the bad ads that seem to be going around the web. This time, I went to see what was on tv, and a Six Feet Under ad took over the entire screen. Talk about not being able to use the website.
posted by thebwit on Mar 3, 2002 - 18 comments

Bill Maher calls U.S. cowardly; FedEx pulls ads from show It looks like that "Freedom of Speech" thing is too much for some people to handle. What do expect from a show like this? If you can't handle it, don't watch it.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet on Sep 19, 2001 - 86 comments

Has anyone else seen this product advertised on TV lately and thought they were watching a fake SNL ad? Then comes that sinking feeling when you realize that it is real. It just started running on TV here in Virginia. Perhaps our median IQ finally reached a suitable level. Don't even get me started on the domain name!
posted by machaus on Apr 1, 2001 - 9 comments

The truce shortlived. I thought what I was hearing was great news. But watching TV this afternoon I've seen a Caring Foundation and NARAL commercial back-to-back at least 3 times. It's been years since I've seen it this bad.
posted by bkdelong on Jan 31, 2001 - 1 comment

"Ahhhhh the atmosphere" should get at least a giggle out of you. Commercials at their best.
posted by physics on Aug 15, 2000 - 5 comments

I approached this review expecting it to be of the "major media providers are the problem, not the solution" sort, but discovered something somewhat different: "It’s not that the medium of the modern political campaign–television advertising–failed to do justice to men of substance, but that men of substance failed to adapt to television advertising..."
posted by dcehr on Aug 7, 2000 - 3 comments

Nike this weekend will unveil a new 50-second commercial. The first 30 seconds will appear in a TV commercial before Saturday's Dolphins-Jaguars game. The second 20 seconds will be available at the Web site. The ad was created by Wieden & Kennedy of Portland.
posted by luke on Jan 12, 2000 - 4 comments