10 Commercials That Changed Pop Culture Forever

1. Alka-Seltzer - "Spicy Meatball"

We wrap up this list with one of the funniest, most creative, and best-written commercials ever produced. It's another Alka-Seltzer commercial from 1969. Both A-S commercials featured in this list were part of an effort by Alka-Seltzer's advertising agency not to rely on typical commercial methods, such as jingles and mascots, to sell the product. The result was mixed; while the resulting ads won awards & are fondly remembered to this day, sales decreased; customer surveys attribute this to the advertisements not being clear about what they were selling. For example, people thought the ad in question here was pitching spaghetti sauce and not heartburn reliever. As a result of the poor sales, Alka-Seltzer and its ad agency gave up on pushing the envelope and went back to jingles & slogans. It's a shame that this occurred, because the agency's reliance on quality writing, direction, and acting resulted in some beautiful ads, especially the one above. This ad lets us in on the troubled production of a spaghetti sauce commercial. The lead actor can't seem to get his Italian accent and his lines right at the same time; when the accent comes out right, the words come out wrong, and vice versa. The actor's performance isn't helped by his growing heartburn, caused by eating too much of the spicy sauce. Eventually, the burning gets so bad that our poor thespian can't even get any words out, let alone nail the accent. Fortunately, Alka-Seltzer comes to the rescue; two tablets in a glass of water and the actor is back to his old self. Looking far more confident, the actor looks into the camera and nails both the line and the accent, just in time for there to be a set-dressing malfunction. On this note, the tired director decides to hang it up for the morning. This ad has taken on a life of its own, re-introducing itself to generation upon generation. I assume that its continued popularity is due to parents who fell in love with this commercial as kids and showed it to their children. The ad's still-enduring popularity, however, is due to the fact that the commercial's well-made. It's probably sold a little Alka-Seltzer along the way, as well. Whether it has or not, however, there's no denying that this little film is one of the greatest pieces of work ever to come out of an ad office. Of course, one could say that about every commercial on this list. Well, WhatCulture readers, there you have it: ten commercials that rose above their humble roots and became works of art. What are some of your favorite TV ads? Let us know in the comments below!Videos courtesy of youtube.com and its users. Image courtesy of sfgate.com