The TV Era (1960-1989)
Mad Men in real life. "Plop plop fizz fizz," the Mean Joe Greene Coke ad, Calvin Klein's Brooke Shields, Wendy's "Where's the Beef?", Apple's 1984. TV ads as cultural events.
Part of Advertisements
25 moments in this segment.
- — Tide "Mom and Dad" Campaign. 1980s onward. Procter & Gamble's long-running Tide ads built around the "mom does the laundry" archetype. Defined daytime-TV advertising; became a study object for second-wave feminist media critique.
- — LBJ "Daisy" Ad. September 7, 1964. Lyndon B. Johnson's "Daisy" campaign ad — little girl counting daisy petals, dissolving into a nuclear countdown. Aired ONCE; pulled after one airing. The most-cited US political ad in history; established political advertising as art form.
- — Mary Wells Lawrence — Braniff Repaint. 1965. Mary Wells Lawrence (later founder of Wells Rich Greene) convinces Braniff Airways to repaint planes in 7 colours + Pucci-design uniforms. First female agency CEO of a major US shop; pre-figured every "brand transformation" campaign that followed.
- — Cadbury Milk Tray "Man". 1968-2003. The Cadbury Milk Tray Man — black-clad action hero delivers chocolates through impossible obstacles. "And all because the lady loves Milk Tray." Ran 35 years; one of the longest-running UK ad characters.
- — Coca-Cola "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke". 1971. The "Hilltop" Coke ad on the Italian hillside, multi-ethnic young people singing "I'd like to buy the world a Coke." Released as a hit single ("I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"). The advertising-as-culture-anthem template.
- — Hovis "Boy on Bike" Ad. 1973. Ridley Scott's Hovis ad — boy pushes a bike up a cobbled hill in Yorkshire, soundtrack of Dvořák's "New World" symphony. Voted UK's favourite ad of all time multiple polls. Defined nostalgia-as-brand-storytelling.
- — Alka-Seltzer "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz". 1969. Tom Dawes' jingle "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is" for Alka-Seltzer. Quadrupled sales by doubling perceived dosage (two tablets per glass instead of one). The defining advertising trick of the late 1960s.
- — Calvin Klein "Nothing Comes Between Me and My Calvins". 1980. Brooke Shields, age 15, in Calvin Klein's jeans ads. "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." Banned from several networks; created the brand-as-controversy template.
- — Levi's 501 "Laundrette". December 1985. Levi's 501 "Laundrette" — Nick Kamen strips down to his boxers in a UK laundromat, Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" plays. The ad that revived the 501 in Europe; defined 1980s brand-x-music co-marketing.
- — NHS "Don't Die of Ignorance". 1986. UK Department of Health's "AIDS: Don't Die of Ignorance" TV + leaflet campaign. Tombstone falls; leaflet sent to every UK household. Most consequential UK public-health campaign of the 1980s.
- — Australia "Grim Reaper" AIDS Campaign. April 1987. Australian National Council on AIDS's "Grim Reaper" TV ads — bowling pin–shaped reaper knocks down people. Most-watched Australian PSA in history. Defined the global "shock public-health advertising" template.
- — Nike "Just Do It". 1988. Wieden+Kennedy's "Just Do It" tagline for Nike — supposedly inspired by murderer Gary Gilmore's last words ("Let's do it"). The most successful sports-brand slogan ever; Nike's share of the US athletic-shoe market went from 18% to 43% in 10 years.
- — Nike "Just Do It" Launch. 1988. Wieden+Kennedy's "Just Do It" launch — 80-year-old Walt Stack jogging across the Golden Gate Bridge: "I run 17 miles every morning." First ad to use the tagline; Nike's US market share went from 18% to 43% in 10 years.
- — Energizer Bunny. October 1989. The Energizer Bunny — pink rabbit with shades drums his way across other "fake" commercials. Voted Time magazine's 5th-best ad of the 20th century; still in use 35+ years later.
- — Nike "Bo Knows". 1989. Wieden+Kennedy's "Bo Knows" campaign for Nike Cross-Training with Bo Jackson — two-sport athlete shown excelling at every sport. Reshaped what athlete-endorsement ads could do; voted Time's greatest commercial of the 1980s.
- — Air Jordan "Mars Blackmon". 1988-1991. Spike Lee's "It's gotta be the shoes" Air Jordan ads as Mars Blackmon. Defined the basketball-shoe + cultural-figure crossover; Spike Lee's breakthrough as both director and pop-culture figure.
- — California Milk "Got Milk?". 1993. Jeff Goodby (Goodby, Silverstein) creates "Got Milk?" for the California Milk Processor Board. Used celebrity milk-mustache portraits 1995-2014. Single most-imitated US ad tagline of the 1990s.
- — Amul Girl — India's Topical Mascot. 1966 onward. The Amul Butter Girl — Sylvester daCunha's polka-dotted Indian girl topical-news billboards. Running for 60 years; longest-running mascot ad campaign in advertising history. New billboard every week, commenting on news events.
- — Absolut Vodka Bottle Series. 1980 onward. TBWA's Absolut Vodka campaign — minimalist photographs of the bottle with one-word puns ("Absolut Perfection," "Absolut Heaven"). Ran 1500+ executions over 25 years; the longest continuous advertising campaign in history.
- — Absolut "Statehood" Campaign. 1985 onward. TBWA's Absolut Vodka campaign — minimalist bottle photographs with one-word puns ("Absolut Perfection," "Absolut Heaven"). Ran 1500+ executions over 25 years; longest continuous ad campaign in history.
- — KFC Translation Mishap in China. 1987. KFC opens its first China store in Beijing — "finger-lickin' good" reportedly mistranslated as "eat your fingers off." Folk story (probably embellished) that became one of the most-cited advertising-translation cautionary tales.
- — Tetley Tea Folk. 1973-2002. Cluedo-esque animated tea-factory workers ("Gaffer," "Sydney," "Maurice") for Tetley. 30 years of British TV; phased out for "modernisation" 2002 — caused public protest.
- — Pocari Sweat Ads. 1980 onward. Otsuka Pharma's Pocari Sweat — sky-blue cans + summer-school sentimentality. One of the most-recognised Japanese commercial soundtracks; defined the "youth-nostalgia ad" template that K-pop dramas later borrowed.
- — Wendy's "Where's the Beef?". January 1984. Wendy's 81-year-old Clara Peller asks "Where's the beef?!" at a competitor's drive-through. Walter Mondale used it in the 1984 Democratic primary debate against Gary Hart. The fastest-spreading viral phrase of the pre-internet era.
- — Havaianas — Brazil's Global Sandal. 1962-present. Havaianas' transformation from cheap Brazilian flip-flops (the 1962 launch) into a global premium brand (1990s rebrand under Carla Schmitzberger). The most successful brand-positioning pivot in Brazilian commercial history.
