Are these the ten greatest ads of all time?

Go on. Admit it. You've sung along to the Budweiser frogs, chanted with the SpaghettiO kids and muttered 'Clunk Cick Every Trip' while bundling the family into the car.

Everyone loves ads. And here we salute ten of the greatest ever made.

Enjoy them. Then let us know what we've missed.

1) Clunk Click Every Trip

2) Wendy's

3) SpaghettiOs

4) Budweiser

5) Guinness

6) Renault Clio

7) Ferrero Rocher

8) John Smith's

9) Gold Blend

10) Smash

Comments

[Sue]

Love the Smash advert.

Two peerless ads from long ago were:

The Milk Marketing Board. Accrington Stanley football team. Who are Accrington Stanley? Exactly!

Cadbury's Chocolate Fingers. Harry The Spider's Coming Out Party.

[sam]

Honda 'Cog'. Easily the best advert ever

[Richard Edwards]

Oh what a top poor 10! Ferrero Rocher? You're having a laugh?!! Now these are classics:

- Renault Clio: Papa? Nicole?
- Hovis: The boy on the bike. Dvorak and Shaftesbury.
- The Gold Blend ads
- BA ads by the Saatchi brothers
- British Rail : The age of the train ads
- Cadbury's Flake. Timeless.
- Hofmeister Lager follow the bear
- Hamlet cigars.

[Dave B]

Some you missed:

"Follow the bear" -
PG Tips - the chimps
Martini - Joan Collins and Rigsby.
Tetley, make teabags, make tea.
R.Whites Lemonade.
Milk has got a, lotta bottle.
Foxes glacier mints.
Cadbury's Caramel sexy bunny. Grr.
Any flake ad.
Last Rollo.
The old sam spade style tic-tac adverts.
The Skoda cake.

I'll stop now, I'm clearly a complete sadster.

[eieio]

The new Davidoff Adventure Ad featuring Ewan McGregor :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLwaoBPc32I

and Peroni's La Dolce Vita ad :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYnuzTd16OY

[Bill Peter]

How about Leonard Rossiter and Cinzano;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirMZGL-0mQ

[Michael Wilkinson]

I have a life without a TV in the house.I recon that gives me an extra day a week to persue other things.
I am facinated by the way people buy anything from a loaf of bread to a car just because the advertising on TV is so effective.

[Jes]

What about the ad for gas fires with the bull dog, then cat walking in giving it a kiss, followed by the white mouse which the cat also kisses. Soundtrack "Will you still love me tomorrow?" (Shirelles)

[John W Meadows]

The ads you show are not in the same league as the Geico cavemen,if you do not have them in Britain demand they be sent over.
My favorites are the caveman with his therapist and caveman at the airport.

[Ella]

Perhaps with all that extra time M Wilkinson could brush up on his spelling ...

[Dave B]

Everyone's a fruit and nut case
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8H4IC9ttIU&feature=related

[Paul]

But did Nicole ever eat Smash? The Renault ads were always better with 'Johnny and Mary' in the background (Robert Palmer RIP). Whatever happened to Estelle Skornik?

[Vaughan Clarke]

John Smiths Peter Kay series...particularly the 'top-bombing' one...watch it on you tube

But for sheer artistic brilliance, the very greatest commercial of all time has to be the Ridley Scott 1984 advert for Apple Computers shown during the Superbowl in the US...not shown in the UK...an Oscar winner amongst ads.

[Mark R]

Whilst I do like the Peter Kay John Smiths adverts there were two older adverts that spring to mind where the appalling beer standards of the south of England were denigrated to great effect - the hikers on the moors and the lads back from the Arctic - classic stuff!

[Antony]

Tango Blackcurrant, amazing ad for its sheer scale. I remember it 12 years later. Amazingly done, particularly as it was before the days of CGI trickery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6l3Lwincig

[Russell Gowers]

Honda - Cog
Honda - Whatif?
Honda - Choir
Ford - Sportka (viral)
Pretty much anything Tango have ever done, but mostly the "There's the hit of the whole fruit" ones.
The Lynx one with the guy standing on the beach and the women rushing towards him.

[David C]

Never understand the Smash advert, nor why it is so highly regarded by marketing professionals. To me, it says that only mechanical extra terrestrials would think of eating this stuff.

[Julian]

The many incarnations of: "The Esso sign means happy motoring!"

[Julian]

And don't forget: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKHc-U2FNHk

[frelkins]

I think the Chanel Egoiste commercial deserves at place on this list!

[Mark Farber]

A list of top ads such as this is impossible...just too subjective. Not one of your picks would make my top 500.

[TaiO]

All gone.....

[Henry]

No, these are not the best advertisements of all time. Typhoo Tea and Carling Black Label are much better. YouTube search them.

[John]

Looking forward to the worst ads 'OFF' all time as well...tut tut. That's two typos in three days, come on The Times!

[so]

carlsberg's "if only..."

[Greg]

What about "were you wafted here from paradise" to which Elaine Chase replied "No, Luton Airport"

[Dan Smith]

R. White's "Secret Lemonade Drinker"
has to be one of the best !
There was an airline ad which featured a pasenger darting across the rain-swept tarmac, boarding the plane up front where a glorious party was in full swing. Attendant looks at his boarding pass and directs him aft where a Rosa Kleb type hands him a foaming green mug - "your free drink".
This area is populated by Fellini type grotesques. Hilarious, but probably ineffective as I can't remember what the airline was !

[Greg (again)]

SpagettiOs - where on earth did that come from ?

What about

Tell them about the honey Mummy !
No.... Luton Airport
The taste of paradise
Only the crumbliest tastiest chocolate
The man in black
Put a tiger in your tank
Milk as gota lotta bottle
Green Cross Code

and I thought advertising didn't work

[peter Moyse]

what about: Maxell Tapes (I think that's what he said but I'd need to hear it on Maxell); Hovis ('ee it were grand that day aft tt war); Blackcurrent Tango (white cliffs of Dover); Orange Tango (fat orange man face slap, exploding granny); The Guardian (Skinhead); The Independent (Don't); Heineken - the water in Majorca, and heineken even refreshes the poets; Castlemaine - Australians wouldn't give a XXXX for anything else; Club 18-30 - Doggy Style;

[Ian Kemmish]

WHA-A-A-T? Alka Seltzer's "Lifeboat" isn't just the best ad of all time, it's one of the best short movies of all time....

[roger]

'Harry the Spiders Coming out Party' featured in an advert for Cadbury's fingers. Harry the spider is let out and the boys sister is heard screaming when she discovers the spider. I tried to find this on youtube but no joy, hope someone can post a link to it.

[Pierre]

Of course it's not an english ad (it has been an icon in France for years and years) but having Salvador Dali in an advertising for chocolate is worth the"best of" isn't t?

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=rK4Bh_arF-E

[rob]

Ridiculous. The best ad of all time is Honda's Impossible Dream:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB_1gPRCLCo

In fact whoever's got Honda's account probably has 2 or 3 in the top 10.

[Irene Bujman]

The Smash advert is beyond compare, but how could you omit the Scotch Video Casette advert with the skellington?

[Wendy K]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0SbVFxl64A

Gregor Fisher in a photoboth advertising Hamlet.

Absolute classic....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9beQh1yH5uU&eurl=http://news.windingroad.com/countriesmarkets/euro/video-vendition-volkswagen-polo-singing-dog-ad/

Also love the current VW Polo ad with the singing dog.

[Emanuele]

Maybe you could watch tv in that extra day Michael.

[Dan]

Rubbish top 10!!!!

What about the Carling Black Label ads???

[paul smith]

Hey Michael, try pursuing spelling!

[cc]

how about the Coca Cola ad when boy and girl waits at bus stop and he offers her his coke bottle by pretending its a mobile phone - super cute!!!

[andy o'donnell]

Have you seen the ad where Tiger Woods juggles the golf ball on his club? It was made between takes of a Chrysler commercial and became the commercial.Brilliant.

[AJX]

What about the Milk Tray advert with the helicopter?!?

[freudreiss]

You seem to have forgotten Rowan Atkinson's Barclaycard commercials.

[Jon Cousins]

It's always going to be difficult to compile a list that pleases everyone! One personal favourite that didn't make the cut is Maureen Lipman's 'Beattie' ad for British Telecom where she congratulates her grandson on his 'Ology' exam success.

http://www.tellyads.com/show_gold_movie.php?filename=VA0049

[Ben]

The Milky Bar Kid

[Richy Boy]

How could you forget the Black Current Tango Advert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEnuDHC-qh8

Also, the Creature Comforts Electricity Ads from Aardman the team that brought you Wallace and Gromit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv2tdCEBkKg

[Tim B]

Got to put the "Carlos Fandango wheels" in there...

[Clive Kitchener]

Two fantastic ads missed. 'Do the Shake & Vac & put the freshness back' & the 'Oh Malcome Vicks Sinex' ads.

[Andrew Corr]

Come on people, Kia Ora, "It's too orangey for crows. It's just for me and my dog!" "I'll be your dog!"

Classic!

[Gerard Denvir]

There was a "Chewits" ad done as a 1950's Godzilla type monster movie, replete with bonkers European professor, ("It's the end of civilisation as we know it"), a leading man called Chuck and a distressed damsel whose only word is "Chuck!"
The tag-line was that Chewits were "...chewier than a fifty storey block of flats...". Absolutely wonderful.

[Rob]

This lousy list smacks of a lazy copy and paste from somewhere. Jeez, and no Cinzano ads either.

[Ernesto Velasco]

And a new classic: the India's Peugeot 206

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZn2GqFkNns&NR=1

[Teveor Handley]

Different adverts provoke unique sentiments from each viewer - but personally, the one which is etched in my memory is 'Litany': produced for that rival newspaper, The Independent. It is one of a select few adverts which has truly deserved to take out the Cannes Grand Prix in recent years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoASyac_F1Q

[Theo Nelson]

It's got to be that cigarette ad, "You're never alone with a Strand."
Only problem was, it flopped because nobody actually likes being alone, even with a fag.

[Mrs C]

I think the all the Citroen ads, and Sony Bravia and HP Colour ads are the greatest.

[judd]

Dim Tights Ad. Sexiest Ad ever. Awakend my life long interests in ladies legs.
I know, Sad!

[edd]

some of these were truely awful and totally underserving!! Ferrero Rocher??
I agree with others, there are much better ones out there!

[Dai Ben]

In no particular order -:

P...Pick up a Penguin
Cresta - Its Frothy man!
Club Biscuits
Heineken refreshes the parts...
Joe Camel
Cadburys Fruit & Nut - Everyone's a fruit and nut case.
Pearl & Dean

[Ronni C]

How about the Volkswagen 'Snowplough' and 'Funeral' ads? OR Hamlet cigar 'Wordsworth' and 'Photobooth'? Or the John smith's 'Performing Dog' commercials? The Foster's 'Ballet' spot? All brilliant. But then, so many more are, too.How on earht can anyone choose just ten?

[Doll]

What about the cats advertising Elmlea crean with Porsche the persian & the diamond tiara she didn't get?

[rob]

Here's a great one from the past -- the alka selzer ad with the bride who was a terrible cook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GShG-RyTfQ

I wanted to impress you!

[stan]

the man from del monte

[Colin G]

Greg,

Elaine Chase? Lorraine, surely.

[M.S]

There was a Pirelli ad for tyres years ago that was a whole thriller done with not more that 3 words (in italian). In less than 30 seconds you had the story of a beautiful woman attempting to kill her husband by tampering with the brakes of his car and running off with her lover. The husband survives (thanks to the superior tyres). Beyond brilliant. Film Directors with multi million pound budgets and hours of film time seldom come up with anything as simple & perfect as this. The fact that I can remember the brand of tyres 20 odd years later testifies to how marvellous this ad was. Groundbreaking.

[john]

Grey Poupon?

[Anonymous Coward]

Please don't put 10 embedded youtube players on one page. Slows computer to a crawl and play at less than 1 FPS.

[Christopher Harper]

It's too bad that the best ad of all time, 1984 by Apple, ran only once and only in the U.S.

[Gareth]

The Guinness adverts with the Perez Prez Prado music?

[richard boyce]

if ... you're drinking bacardi

[Jill Davidson, Lancashire]

What about the classy VW GTI ad called "Leaving". I think the song was either Georgie Fame or Alan Price. The classy woman walked out on her man, dropped her diamond ring into a flowerbed, hung her mink on a lamp post and was just about to drop the carkeys down a grid, when.... she turned on her heel, climbed into her GTI, and smiled as she drove away.

[Goy]

I'm with the Tango Blackcurrant crew.

Sorry, this just won't do.