For our inaugural Digiday Throwback Thursday supercut, we’re taking you back to the 1980s, a simpler time, before DVRs or Roku, when you had to actually sit through commercials on television. To inform our millennial readers (and take Gen Xers on a New Coke nostalgia trip), we tracked down some of the best ’80s ads.
Included here are culinary gems like the Grey Poupon campaign — but of course — and less high-falutin’ fare like Hungry-Man’s microwaveable dinners. A few furry mascots make cameos like Bud Light’s party animal Spuds MacKenzie and the Energizer Bunny. There are even human spokesmen, too, including a America’s Dad, a pre-scandal Bill Cosby shilling Jell-O. Michael J. Fox braves the rain for a Diet Pepsi.
The more iconic commercials from the ’80s transcended television, becoming cultural touchstones in their own right, like Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” ad. Apple’s Ridley Scott-directed Macintosh spot tapped George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 for inspiration.
If your memory is hazy, just sit back and take a nostalgic trip back to the ’80s.
More in Media
Why brands are bringing creators to the World Cup sidelines
Brands are bringing creators to the World Cup sidelines to boost engagement, tap into new audiences, and be a part of the cultural conversation.
Media Briefing: ‘Surveillance pricing’ laws are coming for dynamic subscription strategies
How a ‘surveillance pricing’ lawsuit and new New York legislation could reshape publishers’ subscription pricing strategies.
How Time and others are rebuilding parts of the web for AI agents
Publishers are preparing for the agentic web by creating AI-friendly versions of their sites to stay discoverable in AI search.