Super Bowl 2013: 15 Best Super Bowl Commercials of All-Time

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5. Nike – Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny (1992)

Can an ad be so good that is spawns a major motion picture as a spin-off? For the answer to that question, look no further than Nike’s 1992 Super Bowl ad which featured the world’s most famous basketball player along side the world’s most famous cartoon character. When someone proposed the idea of putting Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan and Warner Brothers legend Bug Bunny in a commercial together, the result was one of the most memorable ads ever.

The ad is a bit dated, but that’s part of it’s charm. You rarely see something like this today, and if LeBron James were to appear in a commercial with Peter Griffin, even if the result was absolute gold, the commercial would be bashed as much as it was praised. Gone are the days where basketball players could be a s free and loose in ads as MJ was, but we’ll always have this gem, Doc.

4. Bud Light – Cedric’s Date Gets Messy (2001)

Usually when you have a beer commercial today — or any commercial really– there’s some sort of CGI-enhanced animal in it to liven things up. Whether it’s a bunch of dogs serving their master beer or a dog bribing his owner with Doritos (people apparently love gags with dogs), animals are usually the punchline of most commercials. So when Cedric the Entertainer brought home a real life woman in his 2001 Bud Light commercial, the world rejoiced and proceeded to bust it’s gut.

From the way he makes a total mess out of things to his hilarious dance moves, this ad not only continued to get airplay well after the Super Bowl, it remains to this day one of the funniest ads to have ever aired during a Super Bowl — and the aid of an animal wasn’t needed one bit to pay off the humor.

3. Pepsi – Dancing “YMCA” Bears (1997)

It’s amazing to compare commercials today to the ones produced 15 years ago in the 90s and realize how uncreative we have become as a society. Even when a 90s ad vaguely resembles something that could be produced today, it blows anything currently being produced out of the water. Pepsi debuted their dancing Bears during the 1997 Super Bowl and the world is still chuckling.

Produce this ad today, and you get Fergie, One Direction, Drew Brees and countless others being playful for the camera, meaning we’re supposed to be laughing hilariously at how they’re acting like us normal, simpleton folk. But produce this in the 90s, when people were actually creative, and you get dancing bears and a sublet yet hilarious Macarena reference.

2. Snickers – Betty White Gets Gritty on the Gridiron (2010)

Usually Super Bowl commercials are funny and memorable but rarely do the reignite the career of a Golden Gil. But that was the case after Snickers Super Bowl ad in 2010, which not only introduced a new generation to the adorable Betty White, it made her an A-List celebrity again. Thanks to this ad, White hosted Saturday Night Live, was in the tabloids again and got a brand new show on TV Land (hey, you gotta take what they give you).

The real loser in this ad is poor old Abe Vigoda, who despite being in one of the most popular Super Bowl ads of all-time, is still known as the guy who double-crossed Michael Corleone in The Godfather. How memorable was this ad — it spawned a spin-off ad staring Joe Pesci. The results weren’t nearly as astounding as this one was, but if for nothing else, what this ad single-handedly did for Betty White is worth more than just a mention.