Quick, name the last iconic ad you can think of. Exactly. What once was a pretty regular occurrence, is now as rare as finding a four-leaf clover (1 in 10, 000 by the way).
Analyzing iconic ads over the past 100 years based upon Advertising Age, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As), Clio awards, and my own 40+ years’ experience as an ad agency executive is very revealing. Guess what, the last iconic ad that Ad Age has listed is the 2012 Red Bull ‘Stratos’ jump-from-space branded content video. That was 14 years ago! Here are 30 iconic ads of the past 100 years.
1. Alka Seltzer, I Can’t Believe I Ate the Whole Thing
2. Apple 1984
3. Avis, We Try Harder
4. Budweiser, Clydesdales
5. California Milk Processing Board, Got Milk
6. Coke, Mean Joe Greene
7. Coke, Teach the World to Sing
8. De Beers, A Diamond is Forever
9. Dove, Real Beauty
10. Energizer, Energizer Bunny
11. Federal Express, Fast Paced
12. Geico, Gecko
13. LVCVA, What Happens Here
14. Life Cereal, Mikey
15. Marlboro, The Marlboro Man
16. McGraw Hill, I Don’t Know You
17. Miller Lite, Taste Great Less Filling
18. Monster Recruitment, When I Grow Up
19. Motel 6, Tom Bodett
20. Nike, Just Do It
21. Off Mosquito Repellent, They Don’t Bite
22. Old Spice, Smell Like a Man
23. Partnership for a Drug Free America, This is Your Brain on Drugs
24. Red Bull, Stratos
25. Snickers, Betty White Hangry
26. US Army, I Want You
27. US National Forest Service, Smokey the Bear
28. VW, Think Small
29. Wendy’s, Where’s the Beef
30. Westinghouse, Rosie the Riveter
Twenty-one (70%) are TV commercials, one is radio, and eight are print in origin. Fifty-six percent (56%) are from the 1970s-‘90s; none from the current decade.
On the left, Volkswagen's campaign "Think Small". Top right, Apple's 1984 campaign. Bottom right, Dove's "We see beauty all around us".
Furthermore, we’ve fallen in love in with over-the-top post-production techniques and execution at the expense of a great idea to stat with. It’s almost as if advertisers and agencies, say, “Well the idea stinks, so let’s try to save it by throwing in a celebrity or some really cool AI.”
From a cultural standpoint, we are literally becoming more beige, even as our population diversifies. According to Sherwin-Williams, interior and exterior paint colors have become noticeably beiger and grayer, especially in the 2010s and 2020s.
And according to NY Post columnist and author of The Cancellation of the American Mind, Rikki Schlott, “Increasingly, this is a world where everyone looks the same, sounds the same, thinks the same. It’s time to log off — and to reclaim our individualism." Are we afraid to stand out, afraid to takes chances, do we all just want to fit in? Apparently so, and we have the advertising to show for it.
Is There Hope for Better Ads?
In a word, yes. But it will be a challenge. According to the Association of National Advertisers, 40% of ads will be AI-generated or enhanced in 2026, and social media tribes often rail against ideas (and ads) that go against what they perceive to be ‘acceptable’. So this makes doing great ads that stand out even more of a challenge. The answers are both qualitative and quantitative.
Garbage in, garbage out: Great ads start with a meaningful, relevant, and unique consumer insight that reflects the brand and that resonates with the audience. This leads to a single-minded ad that leverages that insight with unexpected creative tension and resolution. We seem to have lost this most basic principle of marketing and advertising. AI can certainly help pinpoint the audience, their pain point, and a meaningful insight. But then it requires both the client and the agency to have the intestinal fortitude to encourage and support ground-breaking advertising that speaks directly to the audience, even in face of dissenting trolls. And, of course, the stronger the brand, the more it can withstand the ‘noise.’ So brand marketing needs to continue to be a cornerstone of every marketer.
Back to the future : Media theorist Marshall McLuhan had it right all the way back in 1964 when he stated that the medium is the message. That is even more so today with countless media vehicles, platforms, and channels. In the name of efficiency, many advertisers try to unsuccessfully shoehorn one creative approach across all platforms. Rather, the single-minded big idea should be customized and tailored to work within the context and inherent qualities of each channel in order to plus the idea. This comes with also having very clear test-learn-optimize success metrics not just for each campaign, but also for each ad channel vs. one-size-fits-all metrics regardless of channel.
Get them on TV: When asked how his ad agency had become so successful, Rich Silverstein of renowned agency Goodby Silverstein (Got Milk), said, “Easy, we get all our clients on TV.” He wasn’t wrong. As noted, 70% of the iconic ads are TV/video. And this makes even more sense now than it did 30 years ago. Because video/TV combines sight, sound, and emotion, including video (TV) in campaigns increases conversion rates by 34%, while also building trust and authority - both of which are increasingly important for agentic search (Musicbed, n.d.) Video can be adapted and optimized for each channel from TV, to social, to landing pages as a brand/performance marketing combination powerhouse.
We certainly have all the tools we need to do great ads again. But advanced technology alone is not the panacea. After all, slide rules, not computers, were used to build the Golden Gate Bridge. The human factor and desire still rule.
Author: Al Moffatt is an instructor teaching Brand Equity Management in WVU’s IMC master’s program. Al co-founded Moffatt/Rosenthal, one of the country’s best small ad agencies, Ad Age, and was the CEO of Worldwide Partners, the world’s largest network of independent ad agencies with 100 agencies in 50 countries. Al has a M.S. Digital Audience Strategy (ASU) and built his career at agency stalwarts such as Grey Advertising, Ogilvy, and TBWA\Worldwide. Al consults with brands, agencies, and entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses.
Sources:
https://www.aaaa.org/about/timeline/
https://www.digitalsilk.com/digital-trends/how-many-ads-do-we-see-a-day/
https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/affiliate-market-report