Top honors go to the feel-good classic of Aquarian consumerism, “I’d like to teach the world to sing,” the centerpiece of Coke’s immensely successful “It’s the Real Thing” campaign:
The TV spot debuted in 1971, and it was so popular that it spawned two hit pop versions (sans Coke references), one recorded by the Hillside Singers and another by the New Seekers. The latter reached #10 on the U.S. pop charts; the former, #13. For more about the song, the ad, and the commercial spinoffs, read here.
And as a special bonus, here’s the Christmas version of the ad:
In terms of sheer effectiveness in zapping fairly complex information into consumers’ noggins, I don’t see how you can beat the McDonald’s Big Mac jingle:
OK, as we reach the final three, the tension is starting to mount (actually, since you’re probably reading from the top down, there’s not likely any tension at all). Second runner-up honors go to Life cereal: “Hey Mikey! He likes it!”
At number 7, Mrs. Olson comes to the rescue with “Mountain Grown” Folger’s coffee:
The redoubtable Mrs. Olson was played by character actress Virginia Christine, whose long list of credits included appearances in “High Noon,” “Judgment at Nuremberg,” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” No, she wasn’t really Swedish.
At number 8, Speedy treats us to a round of “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!”
For a time Alka-Seltzer was king of the catch phrase, with two classics from the early ’70s: “Try it, you’ll like it” and “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.” Alas, neither is available on YouTube.
For this countdown, I’ll stick to TV commercials from the ’60s and ’70s. No doubt I’ve missed many worthy ones; some that belong here just haven’t made it to YouTube (yet).
OK, let’s start with number 10, a saucy little number courtesy of Noxzema: “Take it off. Take it all off.”