I think we hit peak ads in '98 with this:
Don't make em like that anymore, or do they? I wouldn't know.
this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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There's a certain nostalgia for me. I watch some on youtube every now and again just to be reminded of the fashion and even just things I had that I've forgotten about.
I hated ads then and I hate them now.
I actually think we are living in a golden age where between ad blockers and premium subscriptions/ arr stacks you can largely dodge ads, but I doubt it lasts
tbh it's just nostalgia, they're as annoying as ads now (maybe much less than ai slop ads or www/youtube ads but still)
Combined with a healthy dose of survivorship bias. We forgot all the ones that were bad or unremarkable.
I agree with other posters that nostalgia and survivorship bias paint these older commercials in a rosy light, but I also believe commercials now are worse. They are less often fun and creative.
Here's a nostalgic look at old commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZIvCmvZdLY
well said man.. u r totally right abt ads today bein less creative. they feel like they r made by robots or smth. thx for the link, always love seein those rosy old ads.. keeps the vibes alive
The demographic of who watches TV has also drastically aged... hence why most TV ads are now all medicene, luxury cars, and stuff catering to the 50-60+ demographic. Nobody under 40 watches cable TV anymore.
My family do watch cable TV, but they are in their mid 50s.
In the 90s everyone watched TV of all ages.
Ads these days are just a celebrity, playing themselves, consuming the product and being like, "lol isn't this funny that I'm a celebrity you recognize and I'm in this commercial? Lol!"
I hate it all so much
Lol, omg, that's Gorbachev eating at Pizza Hut!
🌏🧑🚀🔫🧑🚀
fr man!! its so lazy now they just throw a celeb in there and call it a day lol. no soul no creativity.. just greedy brands and famous faces. i miss when the idea was the star not the person smh
Do you remember that sunny D/sprite commercial with the sun creature chasing kids. ?
That commercial legit gave me nightmares.
That's probably my all-time favorite commercial! I still think of it when any ad with an animated mascot comes up.
I just today found this satire clearly inspired by it.
bruh u just unlocked a core memory i was tryin to forget lmao!! that sun creature was straight out of a horror movie for real.. thx for the link tho, gonna go watch it and have nightmares again tonite
It was always much bigger in my nightmares. Like 3 ft.
I think this spite commercial is a parody of a sunny D commercial with the og sun creature but I can't find it.
But this one illustrated the point either way.
Why was it so scary?
I don't know. But it was terrifying.
I don't think Sunny D ever had a mascot.
the Coca-Cola "Hilltop" ad
That was 1971.
Your memory is just nostalgia. They weren't better. I'm partial to 1970's commercials "Let's get Mikey!, He'll eat anything! He likes it!"
But they don't hold a candle to the past 20 years of Superbowl ads.
2006 GEICO cavemen was so big they got a TV show!
95% of the US commercials came from companies in the World trade center, after 9/11 a huge amount of the industry talent was wiped out.
They had to actually come up with proper advertising to grab attention. Now, they just hit you with ads all over and track your phone to see it they work.
I also feel like ads today are more common/more types. Yeah there are TV and radio still. Maybe newspaper... but you've got phone app ads, which are so invasive and highly trackable. Same with internet ads too. Before, there was limited proof anything worked outside of mailed coupons.
I know this isn't the privacy group, but wait until the regular people learn about how companies track you and your location without Bluetooth, GPS, or WiFi scanning! They play high frequency tones over the speakers (usually with music going) that act like barcodes so your mic picks it up and sends data while we're none the wiser. Something like reporting this IMSI, IMEI, or user has arrived at this location at this timestamp. But they'll be able to look up who owns that device if they don't know already, because there are HUNDREDS of data brokers managing, trading, selling your data.
Lesson: disable mic and camera access when you're not talking con the phone!
They play high frequency tones over the speakers (usually with music going) that act like barcodes so your mic picks it up and sends data while we're none the wiser.
Can you please elaborate
You ever talk about something with someone with your phone nearby but locked/screen off, but get ads for that Betty thing shortly after the conversation?
Another one about microphone tracking from advertisers that's really good (unfortunately only YouTube) https://youtu.be/EVzhDH2q1Bs
Sadly its all nostalgia. I really do think they're better though hahha
Winston tastes good, like a cigarrette should !
At the least they were human made. Commercials are ai slop now. Cringe.
Woof woof, zoopals!
exactly!!! 'ai slop' is the perfect word for it lol. back then it was human made and u could feel it. now everything looks so fake and cringe.. it rly makes me appreciate the old stuff way more tbh
I always say we peaked in 2012. That was the best time of technology advances before it all went downhill FAST
There is a lot of nostalgia for sure, due to ads being shoved in our faces. But 90s ads are insane. Everything today looks so flat and boring, but there were crazy Dutch angles, camera zooms, and neon colors in the 90s and aughts.
Your parents put it together. Batteries not included.
The Chinpokomon episode of South Park aired in 1999, and that had the commercials Alabama Man and Wild Wacky Action Bike and those satire commercials are the best ever. So I agree.
lmao alabama man was classic!! south park always knew how to roast those commercials perfectly. those satire ads were actually better than real ones today haha. thx for the memories bro
There have been many occasions where I'll have the TV playing YouTube videos of old commercials.
Not so much because they are "entertaining", but I find the differences from today's commercials interesting. Also, every now and then I get a "I forgot all about that" which is fun.
i think commercial jingles could be the next big music fad!
ikr!! jingles back then were on another level lol.. u could literally sing an ad for weeks. music now is just.. meh. glad im not the only one who thinks so!!
yeah. I predict it will be like the only thing you hear on the radio. People will be singing along like: "Good things from the garden... garden in the valley... valley of the Jolly Green Giant."
i sometimes go back to this ad when im feeling overwhelmed. its not from 90s and even though at the time this ad aired the world not really in a good place, my head space was. its just nostalgia to a time where i genuinely look at the world inmore positive light.
As for perfumes, the Chanel No. 5 ad
That's 1979.
(Couldn't edit my post to add it.)
oh shoot thx for the correction!! 1979 or 80s it still feels like part of that golden era. i rly wish i could edit my post too but u know how it is.. thx for addin that detail bro
the commercials themselves predate me, but you seem like you might enjoy Nostalgia Critic's series on old commercials if you haven't seen it already.
Also, holy shit, there were only five episodes of this last I checked, there's like twenty of them now.