My top 5 favorite commercials or campaigns

The last few posts have been very heavy so I thought it time to lighten things up, have some fun and think about my favorite commercials.  I admit right now that these have nothing to do with the best brand campaigns, in fact, a few are very far from it, but these are one’s I’ve loved, hated or in one way or another found myself remembering with a chuckle.  So, in no particular order, here goes.

1. Oscar Meyer has a way with B-A-L-O-G-N-A.  Picture a little boy on a dock with his Fischer-Price fishing pole signing away and managing to get me to sign along no matter how hard I tried not to.  And, just as School House Rock taught me the constitution, this commercial taught me how to spell bologna. 
2. “Ode to a laxative.”  In my senior year of college, one of my roommates would stay up late watching reruns on local channels. One morning she tells me of the worst commercial she’s ever seen.  So bad, she thought it was a SNL skit but she was sure it couldn’t have been.  I did not believe her until a few weeks later when I sat watching with her and there it was, a cowboy singing “Doxadan oh Doxadan, does whatever a laxative can.”  Really, enough said. (Sorry, I couldn't find the link.)
3. Coke’s “I'd like to teach the world to sing.”  Watching this commercial when I was a kid made me feel good.  I somehow felt uplifted and happy and there just seemed like a freedom and good will toward man about this.  I don’t know that I ever stopped to think about this as an ad selling me soda, I just enjoyed it and drank it all in.  (Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.)
4. “Thanks Easter Bunny – Bok Bok.” Oh M&M's, how could you take this off the air after probably 10-straight years of seeing a little boy in a chicken suit and another in an egg suit belting out that line.  I still feel like Easter isn’t Easter without it so I manage to work it into each holiday season – no matter that people look at me like I’m insane.
5. Norelco’s Santa riding on a razor down a snowy mountain.  Like the M&M's ad of #4, this ad always triggered the start of the Christmas shopping season.  When this ad was on during the Grinch it was a perfect storm of Christmas triggers designed to get me in the holiday mood.  To Norelco’s credit, they actually updated the commercial many years back but alas, it didn’t quite have the same charm of the original.  I’m not complaining, I like it, but that original commercial is indelibly linked to Christmas in my child’s mind. 

Going through the list I know I’m forgetting/leaving off many and especially the current ads (like, I love the new Jack in the Box commercials and actually roll back my DVR to watch them) but these ads were foundational for turning me into the marketer that I am today. 

Now, if you’re reading this post, PLEASE, tell me your favorites.  And don’t hold back, I included a laxative ad afterall.