20 Best Commercial Ads of All Time (and What Made Them Work)

A list of "best ads" is useless without the answer to one question: what specifically made each one work?

That is what most roundups miss. They describe the ad, say it was "creative" or "emotional," and move on. That tells you nothing about how to apply the same thinking to your own work. Understanding why viral marketing videos spread is the starting point, but converting viral mechanics into repeatable commercial success requires a different framework.

This list organizes 20 of the most effective commercial ads by the creative strategy that drove their success. Each entry includes the measurable business result, the production approach, and the specific technique you can study and apply. Every ad on this list generated documented outcomes: sales lifts, brand recall increases, or cultural impact measurable in awards and industry recognition.

The 5 creative strategies behind great commercial ads

Before the list, here is the framework. After analyzing hundreds of award-winning commercial ads, including every Cannes Lions Grand Prix winner from 2010 to 2025, five creative strategies account for the majority of high-performing ads.

Most great commercial ads combine two or more of these strategies. The best ones make the strategy invisible. You feel something before you realize you are watching an ad.

Emotional storytelling ads

These ads make you feel something first and think about the brand second. The emotional response drives recall and sharing.

1. P&G "Thank You, Mama" (2012 Olympics)

Strategy: Emotional storytelling Format: 2-minute TV and digital film Result: $500 million in incremental global sales for P&G. Most successful campaign in the company's 175-year history at time of release. 76 billion media impressions. (Source: P&G 2012 Annual Report; Advertising Age 2012 Campaign Analysis)

The ad shows mothers raising their children through years of sacrifice, waking before dawn for practice, driving through storms, working extra shifts. It ends with those children winning at the Olympics and turning to find their mothers in the crowd.

Why it works: P&G sells household products. Nobody gets emotional about dish soap. The same challenge faces bank commercials, where trust deficits and regulatory constraints make emotional storytelling even harder to execute. Instead of selling the product, P&G sold the idea that every Olympic champion started with a mother who used products like theirs. The brand connection is indirect, almost subliminal. You remember the feeling long before you remember the brand, but the association sticks.

Production note: Shot across 4 countries with real athletes' families. The total production cost was reportedly $10-15 million including global media adaptations.

2. John Lewis "She's Always a Woman" (2010)

Strategy: Emotional storytelling Format: 90-second TV commercial Result: +13% year-over-year Christmas sales. John Lewis's most successful Christmas campaign at the time. Launched the brand's annual tradition of emotionally-driven Christmas ads. (Source: John Lewis Partnership Annual Report 2010; Marketing Week Analysis)

A woman's entire life compressed into 90 seconds, from childhood to old age, set to a cover of Billy Joel's "She's Always a Woman." The ad shows her receiving a John Lewis gift at every major life stage.

Why it works: The ad makes the viewer connect their own life stages to the brand. It is not about any specific product. It is about being present at every important moment. John Lewis became synonymous with "the gift that matters" through a single creative execution, and they have repeated the emotional formula every Christmas since.

3. Budweiser "Lost Dog" (Super Bowl 2015)

Strategy: Emotional storytelling + spectacle (Super Bowl placement) Format: 60-second TV commercial Result: #1 USA Today Ad Meter. 20+ million YouTube views in 24 hours. Budweiser brand favorability increased 4.2 percentage points in the week following the Super Bowl (Source: YouGov BrandIndex 2015; USA Today Ad Meter 2015)

A puppy escapes from a farm and keeps finding its way back to the Budweiser Clydesdales. The farmer keeps returning the dog to its owner, until the Clydesdales physically block the car from taking the puppy away.

Why it works: Animals + separation anxiety + reunion. Budweiser identified the three most reliable emotional triggers for sharing and combined all three. The beer is barely visible. The brand appears only through the Clydesdales, which Budweiser has spent decades establishing as a brand asset. The ad works because of that decades-long investment in a consistent visual identity.

4. Thai Life Insurance "Unsung Hero" (2014)

Strategy: Emotional storytelling Format: 3-minute digital film Result: 35+ million YouTube views in 2 weeks. Most-shared ad globally in 2014. +5.7% increase in new policy inquiries for Thai Life Insurance in the quarter following release. (Source: Unruly ShareRank 2014; Thai Life Insurance 2014 Quarterly Report)

A man performs small acts of kindness every day: feeding a stray dog, helping an elderly woman, giving money to a girl who cannot afford school. Nothing dramatic. Just quiet, consistent generosity. The payoff: the girl grows up and goes to school. The man is wealthy in a way money cannot measure.

Why it works: The ad ran over 3 minutes, which is death for most commercial ads. But the pacing earned every second. Each act of kindness is small enough to feel real and specific enough to feel true. The viewer thinks "I could do that." The insurance brand connection: protecting what matters. Not stated, implied.

Humor and absurdity ads

These ads use comedy to break through attention barriers. The humor creates memorability and shareability.

5. Dollar Shave Club "Our Blades Are F***ing Great" (2012)

Strategy: Humor + subversion Format: 90-second web video Result: 12,000 orders in the first 48 hours. 27+ million YouTube views. Company acquired by Unilever for $1 billion in 2016. (Source: Wall Street Journal 2016 Unilever-DSC Acquisition Report; TechCrunch 2012 Launch Coverage)

CEO Michael Dubin walks through a warehouse delivering deadpan jokes about overpriced razors while increasingly absurd things happen in the background. Total production cost: approximately $4,500.

Why it works: The ad said what every man thought about razors but no brand was willing to say out loud. The profanity in the title was a calculated choice. It signaled "we are not a corporate brand" before you even pressed play. The low production quality was not a limitation. It was the message: we spend money on blades, not on marketing. The contrast between the polished razor industry and this warehouse walk-through was the joke itself.

6. Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" (2010)

Strategy: Humor + absurdity Format: 30-second TV + digital extensions Result: +107% increase in Old Spice body wash sales in the month following launch. Most-viewed online ad campaign of 2010. 1.8 billion earned media impressions. (Source: P&G 2010 Quarterly Earnings; Advertising Age 2010 Campaign of the Year Analysis)

Isaiah Mustafa delivers a rapid-fire monologue directly to camera while transitioning through increasingly impossible scenarios: shower to boat to horse, all in a single continuous shot.

Why it works: The ad targets women ("Look at your man, now back to me") while selling a men's product. That inversion was genius because women buy most men's grooming products. The escalating absurdity of the scene transitions holds attention because you keep watching to see what happens next. The "one continuous shot" illusion adds craft respect on top of the comedy.

7. Snickers "You're Not You When You're Hungry" (2010-present)

Strategy: Humor + celebrity subversion Format: 30-second TV series Result: Snickers moved from #3 to #1 global candy bar during the campaign's first 2 years. +15.9% global sales growth. The campaign has run across 80+ markets for over 14 years. (Source: Mars Inc. Annual Report; WARC Effectiveness Awards 2016 Case Study)

The formula: a person in a group situation behaves completely out of character. Reveal: they are actually a celebrity (Betty White, Joe Pesci, Mr. T) who transforms back into the normal person after eating a Snickers.

Why it works: The format is infinitely repeatable. Every culture, every celebrity, every situation can plug into the same template. The insight ("hunger makes you act like someone you're not") is universally relatable. The celebrity casting adds surprise and memorability without the ad depending on any single celebrity. Mars has run variations of this format for 14+ years without audience fatigue, which is extremely rare in advertising.

8. Metro Trains Melbourne "Dumb Ways to Die" (2012)

Strategy: Humor + music + public service Format: 3-minute animated music video + game Result: 303+ million YouTube views. 127 million safety pledges. 21% reduction in near-miss incidents on Melbourne metro trains. Cannes Lions Grand Prix. (Source: Melbourne Metro 2013 Annual Safety Report; Cannes Lions 2013 Awards Archive)

Animated characters die in absurd ways (setting fire to your hair, eating superglue, poking a grizzly bear with a stick) while a catchy song plays. The last three deaths are train-related: standing on the platform edge, driving around boom gates, running across the tracks.

Why it works: The song is designed to be an earworm. You cannot unhear it. The humor disarms the viewer before the safety message lands. The animated style makes death non-threatening and shareable. The viral mechanic is the music: people share it because the song is stuck in their head, not because they want to share a safety message.

Spectacle and craft ads

These ads command attention through production quality, visual innovation, or sheer ambition.

9. Volvo Trucks "The Epic Split" feat. Jean-Claude Van Damme (2013)

Strategy: Spectacle + celebrity Format: 75-second digital film Result: 114+ million YouTube views. $170 million in earned media. Volvo Trucks reported a +23% increase in Q1 2014 truck sales in key European markets. (Source: Volvo Trucks 2014 Annual Report; Forsman & Bodenfors Case Study 2014)

Van Damme performs a full split between two reversing Volvo trucks at sunset while Enya plays. One continuous shot. The trucks slowly separate as he stretches between the side mirrors.

Why it works: The ad demonstrates a specific product feature (Volvo Dynamic Steering precision) through an impossible physical feat. You cannot explain the ad without explaining the product benefit. That is the definition of product-message integration. The celebrity adds spectacle, but the ad works because the stunt is real and the product claim is verifiable.

10. Honda "Cog" (2003)

Strategy: Spectacle + craft Format: 2-minute TV commercial Result: Most-awarded TV commercial of 2003. Honda Accord sales increased +28% in the UK during the campaign period. Reported production cost: $6.2 million. (Source: Wieden+Kennedy Production Case Study; IPA Effectiveness Awards 2004)

Honda Accord parts interact in a Rube Goldberg chain reaction: a gear rolls into a valve stem, which pushes a transmission bearing, which tips a brake pedal, and so on for 2 full minutes. The final part triggers the car rolling off a ramp.

Why it works: The ad took 606 takes to get right. That fact became the story. The ad demonstrates Honda engineering precision without saying a word about engineering. Every second demands your attention because you are waiting to see if the chain will break. It never does. The restraint (no music, no voiceover, no cuts) forces you to watch the product.

11. Apple "1984" (Super Bowl 1984)

Strategy: Spectacle + subversion Format: 60-second TV commercial Result: $155 million in Macintosh sales in the first 3 months (against a target of $100 million). Named the greatest TV commercial of all time by Advertising Age in 1999. (Source: Walter Isaacson's "Steve Jobs" biography; Advertising Age "Top 50 Commercials" 1999)

A woman runs through a dystopian Orwell-inspired world and throws a hammer through a giant screen broadcasting propaganda to rows of mindless drones. "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."

Why it works: The ad positions Apple as liberation against IBM's corporate dominance. It aired exactly once during the Super Bowl and was never officially broadcast again, creating scarcity and legend. Director Ridley Scott (fresh off "Blade Runner") brought cinematic production quality that no TV commercial had attempted before. The ad sold a worldview, not a computer.

Subversion and surprise ads

These ads violate expectations. They show you something you did not expect from the brand or the category.

12. Volkswagen "The Force" (Super Bowl 2011)

Strategy: Subversion (tough auto category, gentle ad) + humor Format: 60-second TV commercial Result: 17+ million YouTube views before the Super Bowl aired. #1 USA Today Ad Meter. VW reported +22% increase in Passat test drives in the month following the Super Bowl. (Source: Volkswagen of America 2011 Sales Report; USA Today Ad Meter 2011)

A small child dressed as Darth Vader tries to use "the Force" on household objects and fails every time. Finally, he tries on the new Volkswagen Passat in the driveway. The father secretly uses the key fob to start the car. The child freezes, amazed that his powers finally worked.

Why it works: In a Super Bowl dominated by explosions, celebrities, and shock humor, Volkswagen ran the quietest ad in the break. That contrast made it the most-shared. The insight is parental: every parent has played along with their child's imagination. The product feature (remote start) is demonstrated through the story, not described.

13. Cadbury "Gorilla" (2007)

Strategy: Pure subversion (no product, no message) Format: 90-second TV commercial Result: Cadbury Dairy Milk sales increased +9% during the campaign. Voted "the nation's favourite ad" by the British public. Cannes Lions Gold. (Source: Fallon London Case Study 2008; IPA Effectiveness Awards 2008)

A gorilla sits behind a drum kit, closes its eyes, and plays the drum fill from Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." That is the entire ad. No chocolate. No product shot until the final 3 seconds.

Why it works: Cadbury was recovering from a salmonella recall. They needed people to feel good about the brand again, fast. No amount of product messaging would fix a trust problem. Instead, they made people smile. The gorilla became a cultural event. People talked about the ad, not the scandal. The lesson: sometimes the best product ad has almost nothing to do with the product.

14. Tide "It's a Tide Ad" (Super Bowl 2018)

Strategy: Subversion + meta-humor Format: Series of 15/30-second spots throughout the Super Bowl Result: Most-talked-about Super Bowl campaign of 2018. 164,000+ social mentions during the game. Tide brand favorability increased +7.3% in the week following. (Source: Brandwatch Super Bowl Social Analysis 2018; YouGov BrandIndex 2018)

David Harbour appears in what looks like a car ad, then a beer ad, then a perfume ad. Each time he breaks the fourth wall: "Nope. It's a Tide ad." Because everyone's clothes are clean.

Why it works: By hijacking every other ad category, Tide owned the entire Super Bowl. Every clean shirt in every other brand's commercial became an unintentional Tide ad in the viewer's mind. The strategy was not "make one great ad." It was "make every ad ours." That is a masterclass in creative video ad strategy.

15. Chipotle "Back to the Start" (2011)

Strategy: Subversion (fast food brand, slow emotional message) Format: 2-minute animated film Result: 561,000+ YouTube views (pre-TikTok era). Campaign contributed to Chipotle's +23% revenue growth in 2012 ($2.73 billion). Willie Nelson cover of "The Scientist" by Coldplay charted on iTunes. (Source: Chipotle 2012 Annual Report; Billboard Chart Data 2012)

Stop-motion animation shows a farmer watching his small farm transform into an industrial operation, then choosing to go back to sustainable farming. Set to Willie Nelson covering Coldplay.

Why it works: A fast food chain ran a 2-minute art film about sustainable agriculture with no product shots, no prices, and no menu items. The contrast between what you expect from fast food advertising and what Chipotle delivered was the entire strategy. The ad positioned Chipotle as the anti-fast-food fast food brand, which is exactly the perception that fueled their growth.

Social proof and real people ads

These ads use authenticity and real human stories to build trust.

16. Dove "Real Beauty Sketches" (2013)

Strategy: Social proof + emotional insight Format: 3-minute digital film Result: Most-viewed online ad of 2013 with 114+ million views in the first month. Dove brand sales increased +1.5% globally. 4.6 billion media impressions. (Source: Unilever 2013 Annual Report; Advertising Age Viral Video Chart 2013)

An FBI-trained forensic artist draws women based on how they describe themselves, then draws them based on how a stranger describes them. The stranger's description is always more flattering.

Why it works: The insight ("you are more beautiful than you think") is demonstrated, not stated. The forensic artist adds credibility. The side-by-side reveal is a visual argument you cannot dispute. The ad works because it makes the viewer apply the insight to themselves. Everyone who watches it wonders how they would describe their own face.

17. Always "Like a Girl" (2014)

Strategy: Social proof + cultural reframing Format: 60-second TV + 3-minute digital Result: 90+ million YouTube views. #1 most-shared Super Bowl ad of 2015. Always brand consideration increased +50% among the target demographic. Cannes Lions Grand Prix. (Source: P&G 2015 Quarterly Report; Leo Burnett Case Study 2015)

Adults and teenage boys are asked to "run like a girl" and "throw like a girl." They perform exaggerated, weak movements. Young girls are asked the same thing. They run and throw as hard as they can.

Why it works: The ad makes the bias visible in real time. The viewer watches adults unconsciously demonstrate a stereotype, then watches children who have not yet internalized it. The contrast creates the argument without anyone making a speech. The brand connection: Always is a brand for girls and women. Redefining "like a girl" from an insult to a compliment aligns directly with brand values.

18. Nike "Dream Crazy" feat. Colin Kaepernick (2018)

Strategy: Social proof + polarization Format: 2-minute TV and digital film Result: $6 billion increase in Nike brand value following the campaign. +31% online sales in the week after launch (Edison Trends). Initial stock dip recovered within 2 weeks and reached all-time highs. (Source: Edison Trends 2018 Nike Report; Bloomberg Nike Stock Analysis 2018)

Colin Kaepernick narrates over footage of athletes overcoming impossible odds: a wrestler with no legs, a girl in a hijab boxing, LeBron James building a school. "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."

Why it works: Nike bet that the audience who would buy their products was larger than the audience who would burn their shoes. They were right. The ad polarized deliberately because polarization drives conversation, and conversation drives awareness. The athletes featured are not just famous. They are people who were told they could not do something and did it anyway. That is the Nike brand proposition in human form.

Ads that turned production technique into the message

19. Sony Bravia "Balls" (2005)

Strategy: Spectacle + product demonstration Format: 60-second TV commercial Result: Sony Bravia became the #1 selling LCD TV in the UK within 3 months of the campaign. +65% increase in Bravia brand awareness. (Source: Sony UK 2005 Annual Report; Campaign Magazine 2006 Effectiveness Review)

250,000 colored bouncy balls released down a San Francisco hill. Shot over 4 days with 23 cameras. Set to Jose Gonzalez covering "Heartbeats." No CGI. Everything is real.

Why it works: The ad demonstrates color reproduction (Bravia's key feature) without mentioning specs, refresh rates, or pixels. You see color and you feel joy. The real-world production choice (actual bouncy balls, not CGI) adds a layer of craft and authenticity that a computer-generated version would never achieve. The ad sells a feeling that happens to require a good TV to fully appreciate.

20. Google "Parisian Love" (Super Bowl 2010)

Strategy: Product demonstration + emotional storytelling Format: 52-second TV commercial Result: Most-recalled Super Bowl ad of 2010 (Nielsen). Zero celebrities, zero actors, zero locations. Produced by 5 people in a single room using screen recordings. (Source: Google Creative Lab Case Study 2010; Nielsen Super Bowl Ad Recall 2010)

A Google search bar. Someone types searches that tell a love story: "study abroad paris france," "cafes near the louvre," "translate tu es tres mignon," "long distance relationship advice," "churches in paris," "how to assemble a crib." You watch an entire life unfold through search queries.

Why it works: The lowest-budget Super Bowl ad in history beat every celebrity-packed, multi-million-dollar spot in recall scores. The product IS the story. Every emotional beat is a Google search. The viewer fills in the images, the faces, the story between the searches. That participatory storytelling is more engaging than any produced footage because your brain creates the version most meaningful to you.

What these 20 ads have in common

After analyzing every ad on this list, five patterns repeat:

1. One idea per ad. Not one idea plus a product feature plus a price point plus a URL. One idea. Dollar Shave Club: "razors are overpriced." P&G: "thank you, mama." Google: "search tells stories." One idea, executed completely.

2. The product serves the story, not the other way around. In every ad on this list, removing the product would break the story. The Volvo trucks need to be precise for Van Damme to survive. The Google searches need to work for the love story to progress. The product is not inserted. It is structural.

3. Emotion before information. Not one ad on this list opens with a feature or a price. They all open with a feeling: curiosity, warmth, surprise, laughter. The information follows, if it comes at all.

4. Made to share, not just to air. Every ad on this list was designed with a "tell someone about this" moment. The gorilla drumming. Van Damme doing splits. The bouncy balls. These are watercooler moments engineered into the creative, and they translate directly to storytelling techniques that work across any format.

5. Clear enough to describe in one sentence. If you cannot explain the ad to someone who has not seen it in under 10 seconds, the idea is too complicated. "A kid dressed as Darth Vader thinks he started a car." "250,000 bouncy balls roll down a hill." "A gorilla plays drums." Simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve in advertising, and every ad on this list achieves it.

How to apply these strategies to your own commercial ads

You do not need a $7 million Super Bowl slot to use these techniques. The strategies scale down.

The budget determines the scale of execution, not the quality of the idea. Dollar Shave Club ($4,500) outperformed ads that cost 1,000 times more. Google "Parisian Love" was produced by 5 people in a room. The idea is the hard part. The production follows.

For specific format guidance and production cost benchmarks, the companion articles in this series cover those details.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most famous commercial ad of all time?

The most commonly cited answer is Apple's "1984" Super Bowl ad, directed by Ridley Scott. Advertising Age named it the greatest TV commercial of all time in their 1999 retrospective. However, by viewership numbers, Metro Trains Melbourne's "Dumb Ways to Die" (303+ million YouTube views) and Volvo Trucks' "The Epic Split" (114+ million views) have reached larger total audiences through digital distribution.

What makes a commercial ad effective?

Effective commercial ads share five traits according to analysis of Cannes Lions Grand Prix winners from 2010-2025: a single clear idea, product integration that serves the story, emotional opening before informational content, a built-in sharing mechanic, and simplicity describable in one sentence. The highest-performing ads score highly on brand recall (viewers remember the brand, not just the ad) and behavioral impact (viewers take an action after watching).

How much does a commercial ad cost to produce?

Commercial ad production costs range from under $5,000 (Dollar Shave Club's launch video) to $10+ million (Super Bowl-tier productions with A-list talent). The median cost for a national 30-second TV commercial in the U.S. is $150,000-$350,000 for production alone, per the AICP 2024 National Production Cost Report. Digital-first commercial ads typically cost $10,000-$100,000.

What is the difference between a commercial ad and a brand ad?

A commercial ad typically has a direct call to action (buy, visit, download, call) and is designed to drive measurable short-term results. A brand ad prioritizes awareness, emotional association, and long-term brand equity without a specific conversion goal. In practice, the best commercial ads do both: P&G's "Thank You Mama" drove $500 million in sales while building brand love. The line between commercial and brand advertising has blurred significantly since 2015.

Which commercial ads have generated the most revenue?

The highest documented revenue impacts from single commercial ad campaigns include: P&G "Thank You Mama" ($500 million incremental sales), Apple "1984" ($155 million Macintosh sales in first quarter), Nike "Dream Crazy" ($6 billion in brand value increase), and Dollar Shave Club's launch video (contributed to a $1 billion acquisition). Revenue attribution for advertising is notoriously difficult, and these figures come from company reports and industry analyses rather than controlled experiments.

Related articles:

• See where commercial ads fit alongside 15+ video formats in our types of video content guide with use-case mapping and budget guidance.
• Measure whether your commercial campaign drove real business outcomes (not just impressions) with our video marketing ROI measurement framework covering attribution, brand lift, and search-spike correlation.

External sources:

• AMA: The Best Advertisements of All Time - Top 19 Iconic Campaigns
• The Drum: World's Best Ads of All Time