9 Best Advertising Campaigns Of All Time

The “Get a Mac” advertisements are perhaps Apple’s most iconic ad campaigns, highlighting the decades-old war between Apple Macs and Windows PCs. Spanning over three years in the early 2000s and producing several installations, the “Get a Mac” campaign started with a single idea: personify the Mac and Windows PC in a commercial. Apple’s campaign spanned across America from 2006 to 2009, emphasizing the stark differences between the Mac, played by the youthful and trendy Justin Long, and the PC, personified by the dull and gloomy John Hodgman. These commercials often emphasized the PC’s negative trait of contracting viruses and slow processing times while proving the Mac’s inability to catch a virus and speedy usability. The ad campaign spread like wildfire, leading to a 39% increase in Mac sales in 2006 and extensive brand awareness.

Insightful Takeaway:

Apple took creative leaps to beat its competitors and show viewers how they’re better in real-time. What makes you stand out from your competition, and how can you communicate that in an advertisement? Find innovative ways to personify your brand, highlight what makes you different, and connect with your target market in a relatable way.

Snickers’ “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” marketing campaign is one of the best out there, featuring celebrity appearances and lighthearted, relatable humor. Snickers plays to a concept everyone can relate to—not feeling like yourself when you’re hungry. The ads show a celebrity in the most unlikely places, like an aggravated Danny Trejo holding an axe and speaking with his “parents” in a suburban home. Fortunately, the advertisement explains itself by ending with the famous character taking a bite of a Snickers bar and returning to their proper form, or as a young teenage girl in Danny’s case. The words, “You’re not you when you’re hungry,” resonate with the audience and poke fun at our ability to get angry or frustrated if we’re not adequately nourished, specifically with a Snickers bar.

Insightful Takeaway:

Viewers favor campaigns that resonate with them and feel relatable, like the concept of feeling “hangry.” They also love to see their favorite celebrities on the big screen. When creating an ad campaign, let your product or service shine as the solution to a relatable pain point. Combine the power of wit, creativity, and humor in your advertisements—and feature a well-known influencer to grab the audience’s attention.

What do you think of when you hear “like a girl”? For many women and men, this phrase has a negative connotation and Always recognized that in its 2014 “Like a Girl” ad campaign. The advertisement features young adults and kids, both male and female, being asked to perform various actions as a girl would or to respond to what comes to mind when they hear the phrase “like a girl.” The results are astounding. Actions such as running “like a girl” are associated with weakness for some and strength for others, while the phrase itself is seen as disempowering and damaging to most.

During the advertisement, Always states that a girl’s confidence often plummets during puberty, but they want to change that narrative with the audience’s help. The “Like a Girl” movement is one of the best marketing campaigns to challenge gender stereotypes and remind young girls of their uniqueness. Once released, this ad campaign immediately went viral, sparking critical conversations and challenging the status quo associated with the phrase “like a girl.”

Insightful Takeaway:

Viewers want to stand behind a brand they believe in and one that connects with them on a deeper level. Always shines a light on an essential issue in our day and age, asking audiences to partner with them to tell a different story. Not only did this increase brand awareness, but it also boosted sales since viewers felt more connected with the company. When ideating your next ad campaign, brainstorm how to tell audiences about more than just what you offer but what your brand values and believes in.

The Super Bowl isn’t just known for a stellar football game—numerous viewers come to watch the commercials featured between the touchdowns. Over the last few decades of Super Bowl commercials, one advertisement campaign in particular stands out. Budweiser’s “Wassup?” campaign aired during Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, sharing a humorous story of men enjoying Buds and watching football while connecting via a landline. Inspired by True, a short film written and directed by Charles Stone III that features his friends, this concept was picked up by the famous beer company and became an instant cultural hit. The catchphrase “Wassup?” would go on to serve as a punchline in TV talk shows, a parody in films like Scary Movie, and a popular tagline used between friends around the world. A follow-up ad series created new spins on the original, including “Wassup grandmas?” and “Wassup wasabi?”

Insightful Takeaway:

Budweiser’s “Wassup?” ad revealed that simplicity and creativity can go a long way in determining the best advertisement campaigns. The creative team for Budweiser anticipated what was trending, jumped on it, and made it into a viral sensation for their brand. You wouldn’t think that a simple phrase like “Wassup?” and minimal dialogue would go very far with audiences, but it worked due to its humor, ease of recall, and concise form. How can you create a lighthearted, memorable ad that makes viewers want more from your brand?

One of the most iconic ad campaigns of all time is Nike’s “Just Do It” movement. Here’s a fun fact you may not know: this famous slogan was inspired by the final words of a death row inmate who was facing execution and said, “You know, let’s do it” to the firing squad. Dan Wieden, the man behind the creator of the phrase, thought that it was quite resilient to say in the face of such uncertainty, so he added his own flair to it and made it the new tagline of Nike. In 1988, Nike released a series of professional and amateur athletes sharing their achievements and motivating others to do the same. One of the more popular ads in the campaign featured an 80-year-old runner named Walt Stack, who ran 17 miles every morning.

Nike’s campaign would go on to inspire thousands of people worldwide, with viewers sending in personal stories about how they decided to “just do it,” whether that was quitting their job or finally running a marathon. The tagline is now what Nike is known for and continues to motivate millions of individuals to pursue what they feel called to do, whether in the athletic realm or not.

Insightful Takeaway:

How can you build an emotional connection with your audience like Nike has over the years? By utilizing its values of healthy living and inspiration, Nike has motivated countless viewers to partner with its brand and chase their dreams. Create advertisements with an emotionally driven message that lands with audiences, aligning them with your brand and values.

We’ve already highlighted one famous Super Bowl commercial, but there’s another advertisement we haven’t touched on yet: Pepsi’s “Is Pepsi Okay?” campaign from Super Bowl LIII. The commercial opens with a waiter taking a woman’s order, and after she asks for a Coke, the waiter responds with, “Is Pepsi okay?” Steve Carell immediately enters the screen, passionately clarifying that Pepsi is “More Than OKAY.” The advertisement features famed stars Cardi B and Lil Jon, adding to the fun of the commercial. Pepsi’s creative team played on the familiar scenario of people ordering a cola, and the server assumes Pepsi isn’t their top choice—but what if it’s actually the best choice?

Insightful Takeaway:

Pepsi’s popular ad campaign succeeded due to its self-awareness and ability to turn a real-life scenario into an effective advertisement. Now, anytime a server asks a customer if Pepsi is okay, they’ll link the phrase to the upbeat commercial. Can you determine how your clients perceive your brand and utilize this information to your advantage in creating self-aware advertising campaigns? Don’t be afraid to poke fun at real-life scenarios or even your own brand to relate to your customers and make your company feel more human to them.

During a hot summer in Australia, Coca-Cola released its famous “Share a Coke” campaign, encouraging customers to share their favorite beverage with friends and family. The movement immediately started gaining traction, so Coke launched one of its best advertising campaigns internationally. The beverage company even went so far as to print customized names on their bottles, print ads, and post about the campaign across social media. If you went to the gas station during the height of this campaign, you’d probably run into someone perusing the Coca-Cola bottles in search of their friend’s name.

Insightful Takeaway:

The primary theme of Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign was personalization and connection. Coca-Cola understood its millennial audience to the core, recognizing that its ideal customers loved sharing about their lives online. By creating share-worthy ads and products, they catered directly to their target market, emphasizing their values of connection and enjoying good times over a shared Coke. How can you study your potential audience’s behavior and create an ad campaign that meets them right where they are? Make your marketing efforts about more than just commercials by finding ways to integrate your campaign across other channels of your brand.

In times of blatant polarization, Heineken took the courageous leap to research and create a case study about human differences, open-mindedness, and resolution. Working with doctors and professional researchers, the beer company went to great lengths to discover if people could become more open or receptive to someone after interacting with another person. The result of this collaboration was the “Worlds Apart” campaign. Heineken partnered with The Human Library, which is a company that dismantles prejudices through conversations with real people and their personal experiences around being transgender, navigating the world as a refugee, living with a mental disability, and more. The advertisement shows people with opposite opinions sitting down for a Heineken beer and a heart-to-heart conversation. What you see on the screen is a moment of connection despite the individuals’ differences.

Insightful Takeaway:

What Heineken created was more than a beer commercial; it was a movement that acted as a case study about human behavior and what unites us. Although navigating complex hot-button topics like transgender rights, feminism, and mental illness can be challenging for brands, Heineken did their research and consulted with experts to address these sensitive issues with a compassionate lens. As a brand, don’t step away from hard conversations that matter to your audience. Consult with experts in the field or talk to people with real-life experiences to effectively approach these conversations in a nuanced manner.

Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Can Smell” is perhaps the best advertising campaign the brand has run. Featuring the actor Isaiah Mustafa, referenced as the “Old Spice Man,” this commercial uses a dynamic 30-second dialogue for advertising their products for men. Isaiah Mustafa addresses the women watching the screen, saying, “Hello ladies, Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me. But if he stopped using lady scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he’s me.” The result is a humorous commercial that showcases an over-confident and direct man raving about Old Spice’s hygiene products.

Insightful Takeaway:

The Old Spice advertisement is unique, quick, funny, and random. Its witty dialogue grabs the audience’s attention and keeps them on the edge of their seats due to its filming angles and seamless transitions. Viewers will most likely memorize the lines and recite them to their friends for a good laugh, increasing the brand’s awareness and authority. Who does your target audience want to be, and how can you build a campaign that embodies that personality? Utilize humor to make your campaign memorable and personable.

Create an Iconic Advertising Campaign with Avalanche Studios

Do you want to be a trendsetter in your industry? Avalanche Studios provides professional expertise and high-end video production services, helping you create iconic advertising campaigns for your brand. Whether you’d like to joke around with viewers or craft a dynamic, meaningful movement, we help our clients produce groundbreaking advertisements that wow audiences and leave an impression. Our team specializes in post-production services, such as adding motion graphics to your ad.

Engage with your audience, increase brand awareness, and generate more sales with impactful advertising campaigns. Contact Avalanche Studios to partner with our award-winning team and create an advertising campaign that sparks interest from your target market.