Following on the heels of the wildly successful An Advertising Guy’s 10 Best Sports Commercials, it seemed natural to put together a follow-up.
The first list boasted the likes of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird in the classic “Showdown” McDonalds commercial, as well as LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and (of course) Peyton Manning doing some of their finest work.
After publishing the article I got a tremendous amount of response from readers, suggesting spots I’d forgotten—and indeed, some all-time greats had gone under the radar. I’m listing these as #11-#20 since I already did #1-#10, but some of these are so terrific they might even deserve to crack the top ten.
And so I present the next ten of the all-time greatest sports commercials.
20. Without Sports…: ESPN
A great ESPN spot. If you don’t want the punchline spoiled, watch it before reading further.
It’s the simplicity that makes it. It doesn’t need any explanation, so it doesn’t give any. The ad folks behind this spot resisted a million different urges to ruin this commercial a million different ways.
When writing billboard headlines, you always try to keep it to seven words or less because that’s how much people will internalize and remember after a glance. That rule isn’t held when writing for TV, but it ought to be—I know I’m always doing things during commercials, and more complex messages often get lost.
The eventual tagline in this spot, “Without sports, this wouldn’t be disgusting,” is golden.
The only change I could see making in this spot (it appears to be getting old, now) would be to involve a different rivalry—Michigan vs. Ohio State is no slouch of a rivalry, but with Michigan’s performance on the football field the last few years, the rivalry hasn’t been as relevant nationally as it used to be.
19. Great Googley Moogley: Snickers
This is one of the commercials that seemingly everyone has seen; and if you’ve seen it, you remember. I bet that in 8 out of 10 conversations, you could throw in a “but who are the Chefs?” and it would be recognized and appreciated.
I’m not sure why, other than because it’s simple, and clever.
And it has that great phrase, “Great googley moogley.”
But I’m going to go one better, and include another Snickers spot here. If you haven’t seen the Snickers “I’m Batman” spot, you’ll be well served by checking it out here.
18. Peyton Manning: Cut That Meat!
You’d better believe Peyton Manning made the list again, even after being in the last list twice.
This time he’s hawking Mastercard, and he does a nice job as always. The clear highlight is his chanting “Cut that meat!” to the man making him a sandwich.
It is, as you’d imagine, part of a larger campaign. Second best is this one, with fans of opposing teams talking smack. Then comes this one, where he gives a boost to people making mistakes. Then finally this one, where he vacations with opposing teams’ defenders.
17. What’s My Motivation?: Sprite
It’s probably a good commercial if it ran 15 years ago and you can still recite it word-for-word. I know I can.
“Don’t talk to me like a child, I played Hamlet at Cambridge!”
“Excuse me, excuse me, what’s my motivation?”
It’s a Sprite commercial, it’s clever, and while this particular recording is old and low-res, it could still air today.
16. Yao Ming for Apple
This isn’t actually a sports commercial. But it has Houston Rockets center Yao Ming in it, and it’s funny, and for our purposes here I think it can safely make the list.
And yes, the other actor is Verne Troyer, who played Mini-Me in the Austin Powers movies.
Apple rarely has a sales message in their ads (think of the dancing iPod people), and this is no exception. You’re intended to walk away from this commercial with one concept: “Apple has laptops that are big! And small!”
And I have to say, I think Yao does a nice job with the subtleties in this spot. He’s such a smiley guy. Not every 7-footer in the league could be so charming in such a role.
15. Kobe Bryant Jumps Over an Aston Martin
This one, where Kobe Bryant clears a speeding car in a single leap, made it around the Internet pretty fast. Don’t try to argue that it’s not a commercial, either, because it is—Kobe even names and shows the product (the shoes, Nike Hyperdunks).
I’m sensing a theme here, too—some of the greatest sports commercials are those showing preposterous, perhaps-not-humanly-possible feats. These athletes—Kobe Bryant certainly included—have already reached the pinnacle of human athletic accomplishment, and nothing gives the thrill of seeing (or imagining) them pushed further.
I don’t think this ever aired on TV, which makes that Nike saved a bundle that they would have spent on airtime. If the spot’s good enough, and this one is, then the Internet is all you need to get it in front of millions of people.
14. Brandi Chastain and Kevin Garnett Play Foosball
Read this first. This commercial makes next to no sense unless you know the context.
In 1999 the United States played host to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the U.S. women’s soccer team found themselves in the final against an offensively-potent Chinese team. The Americans’ stifling defense kept the game scoreless all the way through the 90-minute regulation and 30-minute sudden-death overtime. The score was 0-0, and would be decided by penalty kicks.
Defender Brandi Chastain was the fifth and last American to take a penalty kick—making it would seal the win. Chastain fired the shot past Chinese goalie Gao Hong into the right side of the goal, and—in one of those elusive moments of pure sports ecstasy—ripped off her jersey and fell to her knees.
It was an iconic moment in U.S. women’s soccer, and one of the few ever seen by U.S. males. See a low-res clip of the celebration here.
This commercial, then, features Chastain playing foosball (table soccer), apparently against Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett (strange mix of athletes, but okay). And what happens when she scores a winning goal.
Kevin Garnett should get an Oscar for this performance.
13. Troy Polamalu and LaDainian Tomlinson: Leave Nothing
This commercial gives me chills.
It follows Troy Polamalu and LaDainian Tomlinson through their lives, from birth all the way into the NFL, when their lives finally cross on a single play. You see them grow, go through grade school, play college ball (Polamalu at USC, LT at TCU), and finally realize a life-long dream of playing in an NFL uniform (for the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers, respectively).
All that preparation. A lifetime of dedication. Two separate people, from completely different backgrounds, who eventually find common ground as two of the best to ever play their respective positions.
After you’ve watched this once, watch it again. You can tell which boy is which by their hair (Polamalu’s is long, LT’s is short).
There has been no shortage of supposedly-inspirational commercials over the years, from Nike and others. This one is, almost without question, the best.
12. Michael Vick: Powerade
In the first set of top commercials, we had the Powerade spot featuring LeBron James making near-impossible full-court shots, over and over. This time it’s Michael Vick, pre-jail, throwing cannonball passes and launching one like a home run ball into the stands.
I love this kind of visual hyperbole. Can’t get enough.
The LeBron and Vick commercials are actually part of the same “Real Power” series for Powerade, and the whole series is pretty good (though LeBron and Vick are the highlights). Also check out this one with Andy Roddick, and this one with a runner.
Really. I could watch this all day.
11. NFL Fantasy File
Oh my gosh.
The Internet is aflame with discussion/debate/argument over whether these are real or not.
I’m not totally sure I care. If they’re fake, they’re at least super entertaining. If they’re real?
Oh my gosh.
There’s some big names in here: Marc Bulger, Braylon Edwards, Laurence Maroney, Jason Campbell, Andre Johnson etc. etc. They’re super-talented guys, I have no doubt. They’re professional athletes. They’ve played these sports their entire lives. It’s what they do.
But could they really be that talented? Has Prometheus stolen fire from the gods, and given it to man?
Oh my gosh.
These are brand new, at the time of writing this, but they should make “best sports commercials” lists for years to come.
Be sure to check out the original Advertising Guy’s 10 Best Sports Commercials for #10-#1.
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You’ve forgotten the NFL’s ‘Thank You’ advert, where NFL players run around their cities thanking fans for their support. Was a Super Bowl commercial some years ago. Absolutely brilliant.