Apple Macintosh

1984

1984

With but a single, highly stylistic advertisement, aired during the broadcast of Super Bowl XVIII, Apple incrementally hiked the standards of tech marketing, gave director Ridley Scott something to do other than make cool movies, made George Orwell popular again, and fired a massive shot across the bow of IBM. Oh yeah, and introduced the world to a little something called the Macintosh.

Electronic Data Systems

Herding Cats

2006

One of the great Super Bowl commercials of all time? It certainly got the message, in which advertiser Electronic Data Systems claims to "bring together information, ideas, and technologies and make them go where you want," across. But the glory is in the details. Watch it a half-dozen times and you'll still find new tabby tidbits.

Microsoft - Halo

Believe

2007

An intensely action-oriented game borne from an intensely action-oriented sci-fi concept, marketed with old-school piano concertos, still-life dioramas, and nary a single word? You betcha. Granted, "Believe" was but a cog in the Halo advertising campaign, but, as evidenced by its many awards and recognitions, an important cog it was.

Microsoft Windows 1.0

Steve Ballmer pitches Windows

1985

We've all seen impressions of the prototypical crazy car lot/infomercial guy. "What price would YOU pay for this vegetable peeler/fishin magician/'74 Dodge Dart?" "But wait – there's more!" Truth is that Microsoft has its own cheesy TV pitchman – and you need look no further than the CEO position to find him.

AT&T

Flash Mob

2011

If you greet the term "flash mob" with an underwhelming "meh," you are not alone. So what better fate for a flash mob participant than to misplace his mob. Uni-mob, anyone?

Apple

Think Different

1997

Hey, we think Richard Dreyfuss is the cat's meow. We could relate to his thoughtful character in American Graffiti, we felt his Bill Murray-induced pain in What About Bob?, and we were overjoyed when he – finally – surfaced from the Jaws of death. But we humbly feel Steve Jobs, in this un-aired version of the celebrated Think Different campaign debut, was the better narrator this time around.

Energizer

The Energizer Bunny

1988

It keeps going and going and going and going and going… Until you want nothing more than to see it die a horrible bunny death. Still, who hasn't heard of the Energizer Bunny?

Apple - Mac

Get a Mac: Broken Promises

2009

By the end, most of us had grown tired of the John Hodgman/Justin Long "Get a Mac" campaign. And that's what 60-plus beat-it-to-death adverts over a half-decade span will do. Nevertheless, it was an iconic series that welded itself into popular culture. Moreover, there were some genuinely funny moments in there. Case in point, 2009's flashback-heavy "Broken Promises."

Best Buy Buyback Program

Ozzy vs Bieber

2011

Best Buy hit the marketing sweet spot with this ad for its Buy Back Program featuring polar opposites from the music biz. The key? Self-deprecation. Ozzy = babbling has-been? Check. Bieber = corporate teen idol flavor of the week? Check. Roll 'em!

Hulu

Alec in Huluwood

2009

Hulu tried an interesting tact in its 2009 "Alec (Baldwin) in Huluwood" ads, repeatedly dissing the entire television industry and admitting Hulu is in a nefarious plot of brain-eating aliens. We think they're on to something, though the ad itself was great fun.

IBM

Boardroom

2008

Corporate lackey attempts to sell his superiors on green technology, having success only when he tells them it'll save money. Suddenly the whole place goes Disney. Makes IBM seem green and green seem acceptable to suits, all in one fell swoop.

Maxell

Blown Away Guy

1980

There was a time when cassette tapes – the really good ones, that is – were… uh… rad. Not only that, but audio speakers – the really trendy ones, that is – were the size of Mini Coopers. Maxell championed both with the celebrated "Blown Away Guy" series of TV and newsprint ads. iPods may have their advantages, but there's no substitute for moving tons and tons of air.

Monster.com

When I Grow Up

1999

Back in 1999, Monster.com was but a wee little baby monster waiting to grow up. This ad, where children dream not of being a firefighter or an astronaut but instead an underpaid middle management goon or a "yes" man (or woman) aided greatly in that evolution.

High Technology

Apple II

1977

You see, kids, way back in 1977 computers were used to induce epileptic fits, enhance LSD hallucinations, wrench our brains with annoying robot voices, and prove that 8+4=7. Don't believe us? See for yourself in what is likely the very first TV commercial to feature an Apple PC…

Intel Core i3, i5, i7 CPUs

Generations

2010

Twenty-eight years of partnered geekism is smartly portrayed in this 2010 Intel CPU advert.

Microsoft Office

Dog.ppt

2011

Boy uses PowerPoint presentation to convince parents to buy dog. Husband can't do same with wife for golf game. This current ad not only racks up big points on the cutesy-wutesy scale, but also effectively takes lame old PowerPoint out of the boardroom.

Motorola Xoom

Empower the People

2011

High production values (and a rather intriguing female lead) highlight this ad, widely believed to be not just a shot at Apple, but also a shot at the identity Apple successfully created with its own take on the Orwellian theme 17 years prior.

Intel Pentium III

Painting

2000

Memorable, simple yet stylish, and, it would seem, effective, "Painting" introduced the world to both the Blue Man Group (say what you will, but they were the shiznit a decade ago) and the Pentium III processor.

Sony Playstation 3

Michael

2011

Arguably video game marketing's magnum opus, "Michael" is as beautiful and sophisticated as it is poignant. And in the end, something to make you smile.

Newegg

Best Buy bashing

2011

Pity the teenaged part-time job-seeker. What else is there aside from retailing? This TV ad, NewEgg's very first, spawned a war of sorts between advertiser and perceived target, Best Buy. Best Buy told NewEgg to "cease and desist." NewEgg added a disclaimer. And the commercial retained its intended impact.

Planet Green TV

Solar Powered Swimsuit

2009

We know what you're thinking. Solar-powered swimsuit? Must be a bikini babe in here somewhere, right? Nope. Though Planet Green is an equal opportunity exploiter (www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=b1qAIK9pfTA&NR=1), there's just something about this guy and his reflective trunks that stick, like poo on our shoe, in our memory banks.

Sony Playstation 3

Grandma

2010

"When I was a kid…" is used to comedic perfection in this 2010 PS3 spot where our man Kevin Butler drives the point home in a most profound way.

Sony - Playstation

Human Mountain

2003

What can you say about a commercial in which tens of thousands of everyday folk clamber over one another to form a human pyramid taller than a skyscraper? You can say it's way cool. You can also say it's so dramatic and so pumped with human spirit that it's somewhat deflating to discover it's a video game console drawing all those people together. Ain't we cynical?

Mattel Intellivision

Plimpton Disses NES

1981

George Plimpton was a celebrated sports writer who staked his ultimate claim to fame by competing, if momentarily, at the top level of several professional sports. Mattel figured he was talented enough to pitch Intellivision baseball too, and that's just what he did in this NES slam.

Sony Playstation 3

SOCOM 4

2011

Kevin Butler slays us as the buffoonish yet swaggering boss of Sony Playstation's something-or-other department. We're not quite sure what's funniest about this particular ad – the soda- and donut-equipped vest, the coughed "Butler," or the can that falls from said vest immediately thereafter. That's gold, Kevin. Gold!

Sony Walkman

Meditating Monkey

1988

Sometimes, simple = effective. Sony Japan apparently knew this in 1988 when it came up with a brilliant bit of advertising genius for its Sony Walkman personal cassette player. Sadly, "Choromatsu," the mysterious meditating monkey who so upstaged his Walkman, passed on to simian heaven in 2007.

Verizon

Lemonade Stand

2011

Darn near as "mega" as a business can get, Verizon is clearly the polar opposite of a little girl's lemonade stand. So how did advertising agency McCann Erickson seamlessly bring them together is less than 30 seconds? Like this.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

The Vet and the N00b

2011

Proving that a Bouncing Betty to the face is cause only for a disgusted "Aw, come on!" and Shoot to Thrill is somehow still the perfect fightin' tune, the star-powered (Sam Worthington, Jonah Hill, Dwight Howard) live-action 2011 "Vet and the N00b" is as big and bombastic as it is funny.

Yahoo

Garden

2006

You probably remember the drill. Woman spreads generic fertilizer on garden, everything wilts. Woman then spreads fertilizer she found on Yahoo, and everything snaps back to life. Including a long-dead dog, to which her young daughter exclaims, "Scruffy, you're alive!" Love it.

Yahoo Mail

Lady Boy

2008

We've all been there. You get a lusty email from a potential paramour and are caught staring wide-eyed at the rather revealing pics when your wife walks into the room. Wait. We haven't all been there? Never mind.