It’s that time again! In honor of the big game, we’re reposting our top 10 Super Bowl ads of all time. Enjoy!

The Super Bowl is back—meaning it’s time to stock up on Buffalo Chicken dip, kick back in front of the TV and watch some of the best commercials you’ll see all year. Or, catch some football. Whether you’re a sports fanatic or not, the creative ads airing between tackles are always highly anticipated. As well they should be—advertisers shell out close to $3million for a 30-second spot.

While some ads miss the mark, many make such an impact that we still talk about them years later. We’ve compiled a list of our top Super Bowl ads ever for your very own trip down memory lane:

Apple — 1984

There’s been a lot of hype lately about the launch of newer Apple products such as iPhones and iPads—but the original Macintosh, too, had its own unveiling. The “1984” commercial gives a nod to Orwell’s novel of the same name, and indicates that the Macintosh will save society from Big Brother’s conformity. The ad is visually unique, striking, and has been named to the No. 1 spot on Best-of lists by TV Guide and Advertising Age.

Budweiser — Respect

After 9/11, Budweiser ran this commercial in the 2002 Super Bowl—and it was the only time the ad has ever aired. It’s a stark contrast to the beer company’s often funny ads, but this is why the commercial is especially memorable. Budweiser didn’t use this spot to sell their product. Instead, they used it to acknowledge the tragic event and pay their respects, as their famous Clydesdales lowered their heads and dropped to one knee before the New York City skyline.

Coca-Cola — Mean Joe Greene

Sorry, Packers fans, but your opponents were a part of one of the most well-liked Super Bowl spots. In this ad, “Mean Joe” Greene limps off the field in a surly state, not to be bothered by anyone, especially not a little boy. But after drinking the offered bottle of Coke, Mean Joe tosses the kid his jersey and breaks into a huge smile—because as the commercial wants us to think, Coca-Cola can make anyone, even Mean Joe, happy.

Budweiser — Frogs

This is the first commercial I remember from watching Super Bowl. You know why? Because for months afterward, I still quoted “Bud. Weiiiis. Er.” any chance I got (along with every other corny person who thought it was funny to do so). The point is that this campaign stuck. It was catchy. And with a few frogs croaking in a swamp, Budweiser embedded their product into our minds—and appealed to consumers across generations.

Snickers — Game

Have you ever turned into a crabby version of yourself when you’re hungry? Snickers makes a play on this idea in their ad campaign that shows Betty White getting sacked on the football field. After eating a Snickers bar, the guy morphs back into his normal state. It’s impossible not to laugh (who doesn’t love Betty White?)—and, in this case, humor works, because USA Today’s Ad Meter showed the football sketch to be ranked No. 1 by consumers the day after the Super Bowl.

Google — Parisian Love

From looking for study abroad programs in Paris, to learning how to impress a French girl, to finding the location of churches for a wedding—Google’s ad tells us one life story, all through what’s typed in the company’s search bar. Google’s commercial doesn’t outright sell their product. It showcases how one of the company’s tools can be used to solve any major life questions imaginable.

Reebok — Terry Tate: Office Linebacker

Are you breaking office rules? Watch out, because you might get tackled by fictional linebacker Terry Tate. Reebok’s short series of commercials is one of the funniest and successful ad campaigns to have aired during the Super Bowl. Even though the commercials ran only once on television, just one month after the Super Bowl more than 7 million consumers had gone to the Reebok site to download the Web films. These ads are hilarious because, well, who hasn’t dealt with an irritating coworker before?

McDonalds — The Showdown

In one of the most epic games of H-O-R-S-E documented, nemeses Larry Bird and Michael Jordan duke it out—for a Big Mac. They start off with simple shots and the commercial ends with the players discussing their next ridiculous move of bouncing basketballs off billboards, over expressways and off of rooftops. The ad appeals to sports fans and fast-food junkies alike. But, it’s also impossible to not get a laugh out of Michael Jordan’s MCHammer-esque get-up.

Xerox — Monks

Think about how many copies of office documents you make on a weekly basis. Now, imagine how much time it’d take to write out each of those by hand. In this ad, Brother Dominic is instructed to produce 500 copies of an old manuscript. Instead of panicking, he goes through a hidden passage that brings him to a modern-day office where a Xerox machine can make the copies for him, at the rate of two pages for second. The head monk describes the quick job as “a miracle.” Aired back in 1977, the “Monks” commercial led the way for the humorous, tongue-in-cheek commercials of today. And, when a company name becomes a verb for the product it sells, they must be doing something right.

Pepsi — Apartment 10G

Some guys will do anything for a pretty girl—in Michael J. Fox’s case, that means climbing out the window, running down streets through the rain—all to get a Diet Pepsi for his new neighbor. Not to mention that the commercial is set to great 80s music. The commercial as a whole makes an appeal to a younger audience, and advertises Diet Pepsi as “The choice of the new generation.”

Three of this year’s best hit those buttons, we think. As for the other two: a little levity never hurt anyone. Here are our thoughts – let us know what you think in comments!

1) Volkswagen – “The Force”

Here’s what we said about this one in this year’s Super Bowl Roundup:

As someone who dreamed of Force-like powers as a child (and who didn’t?) this commercial was my favorite of the night. The kid in the comically oversized Darth Vader helmet will be, I think, this year’s E-Trade baby – the iconic, lasting image of what was, overall, a pretty good crop of ads. The commercial works, I think, because of the juxtaposition of the car and magical, supernatural abilities; the Passat shown in the commercial is a luxury model. The dramatic camerawork doesn’t hurt, either. Great job, VW!

Yep, all that still holds true. Best ad of the year, by far.

2) Google Chrome – “Dear Sophie”

I’m about as skeptical as they come when it comes to companies pulling at peoples’ heartstrings in ads, but this one is stunningly well done. The pace of the ad – which picks up as Sophie gets older – reminds of parents’ lament that childhood slips away quickly, and the memories the father shares – a combination of the mundane, absurd, and poignant – mimic real life. The best thing this ad does, that I’ve never seen any other technology company do as well, is cut through the hype and show customers exactly how technology can help them lead better lives. I’d kill to have a GMail account full of stories from my early life, and I bet a lot of others would, too.

3) Chipotle – “Back to the Start”

Shared values? Check. Visual homages to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”? Check. One of the best Coldplay songs? Check. Covered by Willie Nelson? Check. This ad is a great, poignant reminder to customers that Chipotle isn’t just a purveyor of delicious burritos and rice bowls; they’re a bringer of wholesomeness into the community.

4) Nissan Leaf – “Gas Powered Everything”

Chalk another one up to the “shared values” category. This ad for Nissan’s all-electric Leaf, which creatively imagines a world in which all our electronic gadgets were powered by gasoline, tugs at our inner environmentalist while taking a not-so-subtle jab at a competitor, the Chevy Volt.

I’m a longtime fan of the steampunk genre, which, in a similar way, asks readers to imagine an alternate future in which steam – not electricity – became the dominant power source for most things in our lives. It’s pretty clear that the directors of this spot took some inspiration from that world – which speaks to the geeks in all of us, as well.

5) DirecTV – “I Am Epic Win”

This one’s a personal favorite. It checks so many boxes for me, it’s almost as if the directors read my mind. Nerd humor (“epic win”) in the title character’s name? Miniature giraffes? Lampooning Russian oligarchs? Love it all.

The best part about this campaign, though, is the web component, most notably the Petite Lap Giraffe website, which fooled a number of friends and family this year. Thanks, DirecTV, for that.

But we actually happen to think these ads aren’t too bad. I doubt any will ever win an award, but many get their point across – and shore up brand differentiators – extremely well, despite the little things that pushed the Consumerist’s readerships’ buttons.

Read on for the “worst”, and our thoughts on each. And please check out our Marketing Communications and Creative and Content resources, to learn how the best brands generate messages and creative to reach their consumers better.

AT&T – Wife Berates Husband for Unlimited Plan

Consumerist readers and YouTube commenters alike (seriously, check out this video on its actual YouTube page) have panned this ad for a sort of male-directed sexism; the man in the ad is a little dweeby, and he’s quite forcefully and hurtfully berated by his wife simply for getting a good deal on the family’s phone plan. To the critics, this indicates that the American advertising industry is unfairly stereotyping and singling out white men for abuse at the hands of others.

I don’t know about all that. I think the ad captures (in an extreme way, of course) the quite justified frustration a lot of women feel when their partners make unilateral financial decisions. And, with women making more and more of those decisions at the household level, it’s never a bad demographic to flatter.

Geico – Smartphones for Dumb Things

This ad also came in for a lot of abuse, along the same lines as the ad above, for its depiction of the three men idiotically celebrating the weekend, and the exasperation of their female colleague at their behavior.

Again, I think the critics are a bit too sensitive here. I think there is such a thing as “bro culture” – broadly construed, the culture of young, post-college male professionals – and this sounds like exactly the kind of absurd thing my friends and I might have done a few years ago. I didn’t download the app – and I’d be shocked if it were particularly successful – but I certainly identified with the guys in the ad. I’m pretty happy on Fridays, too!

AT&T – Infuse 4G Spider

I think most of the hatred of this particular ad has to do with the extremely convincing, bloodcurdling screams emitted by the woman at the table, and the yelling and banging of the older man. I think we, as television-watchers (and increasingly, as couch multitaskers) hate to have the commercial-break trance broken by a harsh interruption like this ad. I think the typical consumer thinks commercial time is their time, to choose whether or not to focus on the ads, or the take-home work on the laptop, and they resent having the choice made for them by loud ads.

Obviously, the metaphor here is that the Infuse 4G’s screen is so photorealistic that a tarantula appears lifelike enough to inspire that reaction. I think there are probably other ways AT&T could have gone after that differentiator, but this is a particularly vivid (and attention-getting) one, and I think the levity of the situation (grown adults freaking out over the picture of a tarantula) cuts down on a lot of the causticity of the screaming itself.

Luvs – Poop There It Is

Defending this one is a tough task. Sorry. It’s just gross.

I will admit not having a lot of experience with diapers, but it appears as though this campaign introduced/popularized the term “blowout” in relation to diapers, which suggests a pretty disgusting reality that parents will surely pay to avoid.

The other open question for me – not being a parent – is, do parents just think their babies are so cute and perfect, that stylized bowel movements (like the ones presented in this ad) are, too? I mean, are people thinking “Aww, that’s so cute, that cartoon baby made a poopie!” If so, I could imagine this ad being successful among the demographic its targeting; if not, what were they thinking?

Summer’s Eve – Hail to the V

Judging from YouTube and Consumerist comments, this ad was picked as one of the worst for two reasons. First, I think people don’t like ads for feminine hygiene products in general. Second, a lot of women that have commented have pointed out that linking feminine empowerment with a strictly-cosmetic hygiene product is pretty hypocritical.

I don’t really know what to think about this ad. On one hand, I’m a sucker for epic visuals and elements of classical history making their way into commercials; on the other, I can see how the ad might be problematic from a feminist standpoint. As someone who studied the subject, I definitely don’t agree with this particular lens applied to the broad swoop of history (men aren’t the only ones who have done great things, and the men who did do great things did them for complicated reasons that can’t be boiled down to sex). But, at the end of the day, here we are talking about Summers’ Eve, so it’s a victory on that level, I suppose.

What do you think of this year’s crop of “worst” ads? Let us know in comments.

Commoditization. It’s a problem members across the marketing spectrum are complaining about: a variety of pressures, like shrinking consumer wallets and business budgets, and ease of quick price comparisons and research, are causing consumers and business customers alike to recast products as commodities.

What does that mean, in practice? It means that brand and minor product differentiators fall out a customers’ buying equation, undoing a good deal of the hard work marketers have done to attach non-product factors (for instance, branding or insight/services for B2Bs) into the decision.

How can marketers fight back and banish this fear? It’s tough; downward pressure on consumer and business budgets is the main driver, and there’s not much that individual firms can do about that. In the B2C space, we’ve found that an emphasis on shared values tends to hold up better in the face of commoditization than other non-product factors, and for B2Bs, we’ve found that tailoring messages to customer buying motivators can do the same.

Bad reputation. In a time when individual poor experiences can be rapidly propagated to every corner of the earth, a bad corporate or brand reputation are harder than ever to combat, and the perils are even steeper: channel proliferation and consumer control have made it nearly impossible to eradicate a negative opinion, once it has taken hold.

Marketers and their peers in corporate communications are, understandably, spending a lot more time and money on being able to identify or even preempt reputation threats as they emerge, and rapidly insert accurate information into the dialogue as early as possible.

Want to ease your fears of negative reputation taking hold? Take a look at our guide to monitoring social media, a vendor selection guide from UBS, our database of social media vendor profiles, and, if you’re interested, dive into our Digital Media forum to network your peers in social and digital across the globe.

Technological disruption. As if commoditization and bad reputation weren’t big enough worries, marketers in many industries – and perhaps some that don’t even know it yet – have the threat of technological disruption on their minds. Think about it: 12 years ago, according to a recent Bain study, the music industry reached its peak:

The culprit, of course, is easy availability and distribution of free music and much-cheaper digital tracks. This transformation happened in less than a decade; it’s happening now to other media businesses, like bookstores; and its entirely possible that shifts will come to traditional education, as well.

Broad technological trends are not in the control of firms or individual marketers, but you can shift the way your company responds to disruptive innovation, and maybe even come up with some of your own, as well. See our recent work on innovation for more.

Recession. The most important factor in a company’s success – one that’s almost entirely out of marketers’ control – is the state of the macroeconomy. When demand across the economy decreases, stays stagnant, or doesn’t grow much, companies will be left struggling to grow. The only growth available in times like these is difficult, zero-sum growth, which means that any possible growth is the result of marketshare being taken away from competitors.

Economic signs – at least in the Western world – are not good. With the obvious caveat that these things are extremely hard to predict, recent estimates have put the chance of a renewed US recession at 50%, and a recession may already be underway in the Eurozone, where currency and sovereign debt issues threaten fragile “real-economy” growth.

The important thing to remember in a recession is that growth is still possible. One way to do it is to get smarter about resource allocation and tactical optimization.

Internal misalignment. Marketing’s alignment – or lack thereof – with other functions is a key thorn in the side of senior marketers especially. This lack of alignment has a number of poor consequences, including Marketing losing credibility with senior executives, little recognition of Marketing’s goals at the firm level, and, even worse, a perception of Marketing as an area of “fat”, easily cut when budget contraction becomes necessary.

Marketers are great at reaching customers on behalf of our brands and companies – but we’re not so good at explaining the value of our contributions to the rest of the firm. MLC has developed a pretty big literature around this, grabbing examples from some of the best Marketing organizations in the world. For example, we’ve profiled one company’s dashboard that explicitly links Marketing’s activities to firm goals, and we’ve explained how H&R Block’s social media team communicated their value in metrics senior executives could understand:

Activate your advocates. Disney encourages its most loyal fans to apply to be a part of the Disney Moms’ Panel and other interest-group-related panels.  Not only does this allow your most avid consumers an opportunity to share their personal experiences, it also helps build trust in your brand because potential vacationers can find a panel member whose needs and interests match their own.  Like Disney, Ford has also used brand ambassadors to share more about a product; MLC members, click here to learn about how the Ford Fiesta Movement helped launch the American model of the Fiesta.

Make your product easy to buy. With Disney’s Vacation Package Guide, prospective vacationers can plug in their budget, dates, travel party size, and vacation styles to get recommendations on what type of Disney package is best for their needs.  This eliminates the need to conduct intense research on each of the resorts, ticket options, and dining plans.  This simplification allows guests to research their vacation options quickly yet efficiently, allowing them to find an option that meets their vacation and budget needs.

But provide detailed information for those who want it. Disney also realizes there are some people who love to research their vacation options, intensely looking at every hotel, menu and ticket option (I’m incredibly guilty of this).  For these vacationers, Disney offers web pages on every on-site resort (all 21 in all) that feature picture slideshows, restaurant menus, and links to TripAdvisor reviews.  The high-involvement resort guest can look through all of these sites before deciding whether her family would most like to vacation at an African-themed lodge or a Boardwalk-style resort.

Make your product easy (and fun) to use. Disney makes vacationing at Disney World incredibly simple through easy transportation and dining.  Disney offers a free shuttle from the airport to a guest’s hotel (aptly named the Magical Express) and then from the hotel to all of the parks and shopping destinations.  This ease of transportation (no need for a GPS or a rental car) allows guests to have a less stressful vacation, which encourages them to keep coming back.

Give reasons to keep buying. There are so many seasonal activities and little details that it is impossible to do everything in one vacation at Disney World.  Even though I’ve been to Disney World a lot of times, in my upcoming trip in December I’ll be staying at a new resort, dining at new restaurants, and even riding a new ride.   Because Disney World has so many choices, it is possible to have a new experience with each trip.

MLC members, for more on creating unforgettable experiences, check out our resources on branding and customer experience.

But it’s important to recognize that this history isn’t universal, consumer expectations and experiences are very different elsewhere, and stepping out of the context of your own market is an awesome way to generate innovation and growth.

Last year, we looked at the ways that western companies are repositioning and localizing their product mix for the growing Chinese market. It was a collection of very cool ways that companies incorporated local knowledge and preferences into their product and marketing efforts. But the land of even crazier consumer products is just across the East China Sea – Japan.

We collected five cool, unusual, or surprising things you can buy in Japan – hopefully these will jog your imagination a bit:

1) Odori-don

Odori-don is a Japanese word that means “dancing squid”, and it’s a dish that lives up to its name: a (very) fresh squid is placed atop a bowl of fish roe and steamed vegetables. When soy sauce is poured over the squid, the salt in the sauce activates still-live nerve endings in the squid’s tentacles – leading to the spectacle you see in the video above.

2) Mobile Television

In 2006, the Japanese government worked with broadcasters and mobile phone makers to create a broadcast standard capable of being streamed live to cell phones. It’s a little different than video on American phones: in the States, video is delivered over wireless data networks, and is typically downloaded first (although a few live-streaming services exist).

In Japan, videos is delivered over a network similar to free-to-air television in the States, resulting in better picture quality, less risk of dropped service, and a more…James Bondian viewing experience.

3) Robots. Everywhere

Remember the bit about economic history above? That’s a big reason why Japan, as a society, generally relies more on robots than other advanced countries: a very low birth rate, combined with a traditional resistance to immigration, has led to a bigger role for automation and robot workers.

Robots perform all sorts of roles in Japan: there are robots for cleaning up nuclear waste, robots for taking care of the elderly (although they don’t seem too popular), robots to help around the house, and even a robot suit that helps farmers work harder and faster.

4) Stuff from vending machines

Going along with Japan’s love of automation, vending machines occupy a central role in consumer life, particularly in big cities like Tokyo. Vending machines sell things like flowers, umbrellas, and even fresh eggs:

5) Fighting Obama toys

When President Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, Japan’s Gamu-Toys (link  in Japanese only) released an absurdly-detailed action figure of the new US leader. Complete with a machine gun, a pistol, two brightly colored ties (red and blue), and an outlandishly-oversized American flag, this cool figurine is ready to bring hope and change to the world – by force, if necessary.

Coaches and planners go into intensely competitive situations (football stadiums and market economies, respectively), lead teams with certain strengths, certain weaknesses, and a limited ability to change those things, adapt a “game plan” without knowing much about how the other side will react, and end up being judged on things that may or may not be their responsibility. They have to be meticulous enough to draw up most of the game in advance, but flexible and agile enough to call new plays should conditions warrant them. Most of all, they have to have the ability to get everyone on the same page, and motivate and marshal their teams to execute on the plan.

Football teaches, I think, 3 big things to marketing planners and managers:

Make a game plan, but keep it flexible. Football is an enormously complicated game; so complicated that, without a mental heuristic like a game plan, coaches would spend most of their time flipping through three-inch playbooks and inevitably make a lot of mistakes. But game plans are rough outlines of what the game should look like from one team’s side, and if a coach sees an opportunity on the field, it would be nuts not to depart from the game plan and call a play designed to exploit whatever opening the defense is giving him.

So too, with marketing planning: the number of touchpoints and channels our teams manage are orders of magnitude more complicated than they once were. So we plan to take some of the complexity out of our jobs. But if a market opportunity arises that the plan doesn’t account for, marketers must be willing to change things up.

If its possible, outsource. In the NFL, there’s a whole continuum of coach control. Some coaches call every play, offense and defense, themselves; others outsource play-calling to their assistants or coordinators; still others allow their quarterbacks to call plays at the line of scrimmage. But coaches who call their own plays have a notoriously poor record in the modern NFL – the complexity of the game has gotten to the point that those who try to do it all themselves usually fail. Teams that are consistently good in the NFL very often have play-calling authority vested in a number of places across the staff and the team.

For marketing leaders lucky enough to have well-developed teams, outsourcing decision-making processes is a powerful way of simplifying the world and freeing up your energy to focusing on strategic concerns and emerging trends. And for globally-focused organizations, relying on on-the-ground knowledge can be a way of getting better returns, too.

Don’t let risk-aversion affect the score. Here’s one where football coaches don’t do too well: they consistently allow risk aversion and poor risk assessment skills get in the way of what could be an extra victory or so per year. How? They don’t go for it enough on 4th down. David Romer, an economist at the University of California, studied every NFL 4th down across nearly 700 games. What he found was that coaches should typically attempt a 4th down conversion much more than they actually do; if 4th down conversions were maximized, an individual coach could potentially win about one extra game per year – and in a 16-game season, that can mean the difference between hanging up the cleats in December and going onto the postseason.

Why don’t coaches do more with their 4th downs? It can be chalked up to one of two reasons: either coaches aren’t accurately assessing the risk – they think going for it is riskier than the points they give up by kicking a field goal or punting – or, they accurately assess the risks, but are concerned about taking the blame if the call goes wrong.

The lesson for marketers? Take a hard look at areas in your “game” where you’re making risk-based decisions, and try to get an empirical basis for those decisions going forward.

MLC members, have anything to add? Let us know in comments.

Marketers and advertisers have spent over 100 years trying to communicate with customers in modern, recognizable ways, and during that time the language we use to do that has evolved. Customers now don’t need everything spelled out – they react instantly to small symbolic cues, rich images, and a memorable tagline – but consumers of previous eras didn’t have the rich symbolic vocabulary necessary to do that. The result was advertisements that are much more literal – and maybe more informative, in a strict sense – than the ones we have today.

We’ve collected ten of the coolest vintage magazine and TV ads we could find. Have others? Post them in the comments! And make sure to check out our resource center on getting the most out of agency partnerships, so maybe your company will be on a list like this in 2061.

1) Lincoln Cosmopolitan

Have you ever seen anything so evocative of the 1950’s? Newfound wealth, garish colors, a gigantic convertible – this ad has it all.

2) Western Electric – Colorful Phones

I’m too young to know much about this, but apparently phones used to come in one color – black – and the introduction of different colors was a Big Deal. This piece from Western Electric is way ahead of its time – it uses infographic-like techniques and social proof to sell a rainbow of telephones.

3) Old Spice – 1957

My favorite things about this one? First, how radically different it is from…more current Old Spice commercials. Second, the hilarious tone of the announcer, reminiscent of old public service announcements. Finally, the veneer of scientific precision – “from the laboratories of Shulton”.

4) Air Canada – Rainbow

This is a great ad, mostly because it eschews the practice of including paragraphs worth of copy along with the visuals. The rainbow is a great touch – it says that when you’re on Air Canada, you’re going somewhere good – and the overall design is delightfully retro.

5) This Calls for Budweiser

Have beer marketers always been the best in the discipline? This piece from Budweiser gets a key thing right: it takes a universal experience – hanging out with your friends – and deftly associates the brand with it. They aren’t selling the beer, per se – they’re selling the experience of being with friends. And who doesn’t like that?

6) Tide – Laundry on the Beach

A few thoughts: first, this is another nice bit of positive-experience association, with the added benefit of the juxtaposition of the naturally clean beach. Second, in fifty years, are people going to cringe at the music I love as much as I did at this ad’s?

7) Ouija – Questions

Now we’re getting into the “we couldn’t run this ad today” territory, with this ad for Ouija featuring a young woman asking silly things about flying saucers and the prom, while the guy contemplates weighty issues like college and “going steady”. And Vintage Santa carrying the game? Subtle, Parker Brothers – subtle.

RCA – Table-Top TV

Our ancestors were so inventive.

9) Alka-Seltzer Takes on The USA

A few thoughts: first, how creepy is that talking doll? I feel like it’s going to come to my house if I don’t take Alka-Seltzer. Second, it’s remarkable how long these commercials go. 30-second ads feel long today, and we’re slowly transitioning to ads a quarter of the length of these spots.

10) Dr. Pepper – Charge

This one did its job – I now officially want to go to the beach.

It’s been just over a year since we brought you the “Funniest Customer Service Spoofs”, an entry that continues to rank among the most popular in Wide Angle’s history. And if we learned (or rather, confirmed) anything from this diversionary post, it’s that customer service professionals have a healthy sense of humor about themselves and their jobs—even though we seem to get more than our fair share of ridicule.

Let’s face it, though. Despite the fact that we all strive to eliminate poor experiences that are frustrating for customers, from an outsider’s perspective these situations can be…well…absolutely hilarious. And it’s not just standup comedians and sitcoms that are leveraging the comedic fodder to be had; on the contrary, more and more companies are pushing customer service to differentiate themselves—and using some spectacularly bad examples to illustrate their competitors’ allegedly inferior service.

With that in mind, we’ve dug up a few more customer service-related spoofs, pranks, and advertisements that are sure to keep you laughing…unless, of course, you’re that frustrated customer on the other end of the line:

1. Diapers.com – Customer Service Experts
In a possible nod to the talking E*TRADE baby, Diapers.com (a business patronized and often praised by a certain unnamed CCC consultant and mother of a toddler) gives new meaning to the phrase “putting yourself in the customer’s shoes” by staffing their call center with an army of helpful baby-agents. Sympathetic to the familiar plights of ordering formula and assembling tricycles, these junior customer service reps field calls in between naps—all while pulling off the impossible task of wearing nothing but a diaper at work.

2. Elaborate prank on Belgian call center
If we were hosting an awards show, these guys would win hands-down for “most complicated/time-consuming prank” related to customer service. But we’re not, so you’ll have to settle for just watching the video.

3. CarMax – “Customer Service shouldn’t be a thing of the past”
Can service ever be scary good? While this may look like a gas station you’d find in Pleasantville, CarMax promises to offer customer service just like they did in the good old days. Later ads like this one also build on the theme of customer-centricity.

4. Seinfeld – Kramer’s Moviefone IVR
Don’t ever take your IVR for granted—as Kramer finds out in this classic scene from Seinfeld, being an automated menu isn’t as easy as it may seem. While we wouldn’t recommend replacing your current system with Kramer, you can find more information on making an informed technology decision here.

5. Saturday Night Live – MetroBank Customer Service
This SNL skit just goes to show that there are two sides to every story; and, more importantly, it highlights that it’s the customer’s interpretation of the experience that really counts. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch here to say that Roseanne was born to play this role.

6. Discover – Peggy
What started as a typical 30-second spot promising a shorter hold time to talk to a ‘real person’ has grown into a full-scale advertising campaign—all based on a nightmare customer service rep that goes by the name of “Peggy”. If you haven’t been keeping up with this popular spoof, Peggy now has his/her own YouTube channel, a Facebook page, and a few A-list customers including Lou Holtz and Bobby Bowden. Don’t worry, though, the service at USA Prime Credit hasn’t gotten any better.

CCC Buzz readers: What do you think?—are we missing any of your favorite customer service spoofs?

Nobody can sell an idea better than television’s Don Draper, the creative advertising genius in the show Mad Men. And after watching nearly the entire series in an embarrassingly short amount of time, I think I know what makes him so good: Don Draper is a Challenger™. He understands his customers’ businesses better than they do, and isn’t afraid to tell them. And if a customer ignores his advice in favor of bad ideas, he’ll likely fire them.

Here are three things Don Draper knows that most sellers and corporate executives haven’t figured out:

1. The customer is always wrong.

   Watch Don Draper tell the customer they’re wrong

   The “customer is always right” mantra has long driven marketers and salespeople to bend over backwards to satisfy insane customer demands, only to then wonder why customers are disappointed when they get exactly what they’d asked for.

   Not Don Draper—he leaves that attitude for customer service. Don Draper knows that if he were to create the advertisement the customer asked for, he’d end up producing the same ad as every other agency. Not a recipe for loyalty.

   Our research – as well as practical experience – indicates that customers do not always know what they want, and serious work is needed to unearth unarticulated and poorly-understood desires within the targeted company or segment. MLC members, see how companies like Reynolds and Reynolds and Texas Instruments achieve customer understanding beyond articulated needs.

2. Too much productivity can be a bad thing.

   Don Draper is famous for taking naps at work, lying on his couch until inspiration strikes. In one episode, when new management tries to clamp down on employees’ down-time, Don fires back, “You came here because we do this better than you… and part of that is letting our creatives be unproductive until they are.”

   The lesson for marketers isn’t that we should start napping instead of working, but simply that there’s a limit to how much activity we can squeeze out of ourselves before it takes a toll on the quality of our work. In complex sales, MLC research shows that Marketing and Sales need to be creative and innovate on deals, and reps need to take time to research customers before charging in. But creativity can’t be forced. A whole body of recent scientific evidence proves what Don Draper knew instinctively: that the brain needs time to relax and wander in order come up with good ideas.

   MLC members: check out our ideation topic center for more on developing innovative marketing and sales approaches.

3. Emotion trumps reason in sales.

   Everyone these days seems to want a better ROI calculator. “If only we can quantify the value we bring,” the thinking goes, “we can convince the customer to buy.” But Don Draper knows that people buy because of emotion, not reason; they use ROI to justify in their heads a decision they’ve already made in their gut.

   Instead of pitching customers on his ads’ ROI, Don Draper tells stories that connect to their deepest emotions, and forcefully challenges customers to see their business in a new light. Our work on customer loyalty confirms that products’ emotional benefits drive greater differentiation than their functional benefits. Financial impact matters, but it’s a piece of the puzzle, not the Holy Grail.

   MLC members: learn how Dow Chemical discovers what drives loyalty at the segment level, and how Fannie Mae ensures that sales reps are working loyalty drivers into their conversations with customers.

Do any Mad Men fans out there have additional sales or business lessons they’ve gleaned from the show? Please leave them in the comments below!

As a reminder, we’ve selected 16 recent sports ad campaigns from around the world – every sport from Australian rules football to NASCAR – and randomly seeded them into brackets. Each week, campaigns will go head to head and our readers (that’s you!) will have the opportunity to vote for which one you think is best. Voting for this round ends Tuesday, March 29 at noon. May the best ad win!

“NFL Playoffs – Santonio Holmes” (NFL) vs. “Best Fans on the Planet” (NFL)

An all-NFL matchup here. The first ad features footage of fans watching Santonio Holmes’ dramatic touchdown catch in the 2008 Super Bowl, while the second is a tribute to the league’s rabid fanbases, in addition to a great introduction of New Orleans’ Saints running back Reggie Bush vaulting over a tackler.

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Vote!

“Tightrope” (Cricket World Cup) vs. “There’s Only One October” (MLB)

The ongoing Cricket World Cup might be the biggest sporting event in the world that still has next to no penetration in North America, but the ads, like this one, are great. This one matches up against an ad from cricket’s cousin sport, baseball, that features comedian Dane Cook talking up the 2007 Boston Red Sox.

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All Blacks 2007 (Rugby World Cup) vs. Write the Future (FIFA World Cup)

Two global sports match up here. The first is a sentimental spot, featuring New Zealand’s national rugby team, to promote the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The second is Nike’s tour de force from the 2010 World Cup, that includes all the major international stars and some amazing camerawork.

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Vote!

“Can’t Wait” (AFL) vs. “Earl and Tiger” (Golf)

The final matchup of the first round pairs up another ad from the Australian Football League, featuring players anticipating the coming season, with Nike’s “Earl and Tiger” ad, released after the golfer went through a number of personal issues in the early part of 2010.

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Vote!

We’ve all seen executives played out in movies and TV shows—whether smart, powerful, or bumbling (e.g., Michael Scott, The Office). These characters are usually entertaining because they represent an exaggerated stereotype of how businesses operate across functions on a day-to-day basis.

Imagine recruiting your favorite characters from the big and small screens to your company. Who would head up your marketing, finance and IT departments…or the business overall?

If 90% of start-ups fail in their first year, I’d give this operation 1-2 weeks:

Here’s the deal: we’ve selected 16 recent sports ad campaigns from around the world – every sport from Australian rules football to NASCAR – and randomly seeded them into brackets. Each week, campaigns will go head to head and our readers (that’s you!) will have the opportunity to vote for which one you think is best. Voting ends Tuesday, March 22 at noon.

This week, we’ll present half of the Round 1 bracket – four matchups.

“History Will Be Made” (NHL) vs. “2011 Daytona 500″ (NASCAR)

Two tradition-focused ads make up this first-round matchup – classic NHL playoffs moments presented in the former and classic moments from NASCAR’s opening race in the latter. But the NHL’s campaign came with a twist – the league open-sourced the audio and video for the campaign, allowing fans to create their own remixes, with often hilarious results.

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Vote!

“There Can Only Be One” (NBA) vs. “Fate” (NFL)

Two very different approaches in these playoff-themed ads for the NBA and NFL. The NBA focuses on tight headshots of current players reminiscing about the legends they watched in the playoffs, neatly marrying basketball’s past and present, while Nike’s NFL ad traces the development of American football superstars LaDanian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu, culminating in an on-field collision.

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Vote!

“In A League of Its Own” (AFL) vs. “Use With Caution” (NCAA basketball)

Aussie rules football is brutal, isn’t it? This matchup pairs a graphic depiction of the guts and athleticism needed to play Australian football with a humorous look at the widespread practice of watching early-round NCAA basketball tournament games in the office.

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Vote!

“No Words” (NHL) vs. “All Blacks Haka” (Rugby)

Another international matchup, and another entry from the NHL. This matchup is poignancy vs. power; the NHL’s ad captures Stanley Cup-winners’ speechlessness after achieving their life’s dream, while the All Blacks’ commercial showcases the extremely intimidating pre-game Maori war dance performed by New Zealand’s national rugby team. (Seriously, can you imagine being on the receiving end of that?)

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Vote!

Check back next week for the second half of the opening round!

MLC members, for more on magnificent creative, check out our creative and content production topic center.

Here are our picks for the best and worst ads of this year’s big game. Agree/disagree? Let us know in comments.

1) Volkswagen – Darth Vader

As someone who dreamed of Force-like powers as a child (and who didn’t?) this commercial was my favorite of the night. The kid in the comically oversized Darth Vader helmet will be, I think, this year’s E-Trade baby – the iconic, lasting image of what was, overall, a pretty good crop of ads.

The commercial works, I think, because of the juxtaposition of the car and magical, supernatural abilities; the Passat shown in the commercial is a luxury model. The dramatic camerawork doesn’t hurt, either. Great job, VW!

2) Doritos – House Sitting

Hilarious, irreverent – it’s a Doritos ad, alright! Obviously, the joke is that the chip is so flavorful it’ll wake the dead – animal, plant or human. The ashes billowing from Grandpa’s back? Priceless.

3) Coca-Cola – Siege

From one of the oldest brands in America comes a bit of nerdy fun, as an army of belligerent orcs led by a fearsome fire-breathing dragon is neutered by wise bear-warriors wielding nothing but The Real Thing.

Now, there was some dissent within the team here as to whether this ad was any good; I was one of the few to argue that it was. Maybe it’s just my geeky upbringing, but not only did I love the fantasy angle, I also liked the metaphor; for many Americans, the worst of the recession isn’t over, and simple pleasures (like a Coke!) can help shift perspectives.

And now for the worst:

1) Chrysler – Imported From Detroit

I know this might be a controversial pick, but hear me out. Eminem’s second appearance of the night came in this 2-minute (!) spot from Chrsyler, ostensibly an ad for the Chrysler 200, but really an encomium to the fighting spirit of the city of Detroit. Featuring Detroit landmarks like the “Fist of a Champion” monument, the Fox Theatre, and Diego Rivera’s “Detroit Industry“, the ad works on the level of juxtaposition – art, sculpture and theatre presented next to what looks like a pretty snazzy vehicle.

Now, here’s what doesn’t work. I say this as a person who’s spent a lot of time in Michigan, who’s worked for a rival automaker that fell on nearly-as-hard times as Chrysler, and who is overall quite sympathetic to the American auto industry: the tone in this ad is emblematic of everything that’s wrong with that industry. It’s defiant, divisive and most of all presents the main value prop as “support our city”, rather than “buy our cars, because they’re the best”. There was maybe a time for this kind of advertising (2008-2009, perhaps), but it’s long past: note that Ford and GM presented positive, product-focused ads.

Also? The Rivera mural depicts a factory scene at Ford, and was commissioned by Henry Ford himself, and a number of shots feature GM’s headquarters, the Renaissance Center. Totally avoidable gaffes.

2) Sony – Android is Ready to Play

Dear Sony,

Hi. That little Android guy? It’s cute. I like how it bounces around in ads for other companies. It makes me think of an efficient, yet aesthetically pleasing robot handling the most important details of my life (contacts, calendars, etc.)

One thing that I’m not interested in seeing is this little creature having thumbs grafted onto it in a back alley operating room.

Thanks,

Corey

3) E*Trade – Tailor

I think E*Trade misunderstands what made the talking baby such a great commercial. It wasn’t just that it was a cute baby (although that helped) – it was the whole shtick, the bravura personified in the kid that made the ads so popular.

This is a phoned-in effort to squeeze the last bit of juice out of this character (note: MLC does not advocate baby-squeezing). Yes, we get it, it’s a rich baby. Time to figure out something new.

MLC members, if you’re looking to hit the next Super Bowl home run, first, check your encyclopedia – there are no home runs in football. Second, head over to our resources on driving great creative and maximizing the value of your agency relationships.

By Kirsten Robinson

The Super Bowl is back—meaning it’s time to stock up on Buffalo Chicken dip, kick back in front of the TV and watch some of the best commercials you’ll see all year. Or, catch some football. Whether you’re a sports fanatic or not, the creative ads airing between tackles are always highly anticipated. As well they should be—advertisers shell out close to $3million for a 30-second spot.

While some ads miss the mark, many make such an impact that we still talk about them years later. We’ve compiled a list of our top Super Bowl ads ever for your very own trip down memory lane:

Apple — 1984

There’s been a lot of hype lately about the launch of newer Apple products such as iPhones and iPads—but the original Macintosh, too, had its own unveiling. The “1984” commercial gives a nod to Orwell’s novel of the same name, and indicates that the Macintosh will save society from Big Brother’s conformity. The ad is visually unique, striking, and has been named to the No. 1 spot on Best-of lists by TV Guide and Advertising Age.

Budweiser — Respect

After 9/11, Budweiser ran this commercial in the 2002 Super Bowl—and it was the only time the ad has ever aired. It’s a stark contrast to the beer company’s often funny ads, but this is why the commercial is especially memorable. Budweiser didn’t use this spot to sell their product. Instead, they used it to acknowledge the tragic event and pay their respects, as their famous Clydesdales lowered their heads and dropped to one knee before the New York City skyline.

Coca-Cola — Mean Joe Greene

Sorry, Packers fans, but your opponents were a part of one of the most well-liked Super Bowl spots. In this ad, “Mean Joe” Greene limps off the field in a surly state, not to be bothered by anyone, especially not a little boy. But after drinking the offered bottle of Coke, Mean Joe tosses the kid his jersey and breaks into a huge smile—because as the commercial wants us to think, Coca-Cola can make anyone, even Mean Joe, happy.

Budweiser — Frogs

This is the first commercial I remember from watching Super Bowl. You know why? Because for months afterward, I still quoted “Bud. Weiiiis. Er.” any chance I got (along with every other corny person who thought it was funny to do so). The point is that this campaign stuck. It was catchy. And with a few frogs croaking in a swamp, Budweiser embedded their product into our minds—and appealed to consumers across generations.

Snickers — Game

Have you ever turned into a crabby version of yourself when you’re hungry? Snickers makes a play on this idea in their ad campaign that shows Betty White getting sacked on the football field. After eating a Snickers bar, the guy morphs back into his normal state. It’s impossible not to laugh (who doesn’t love Betty White?)—and, in this case, humor works, because USA Today’s Ad Meter showed the football sketch to be ranked No. 1 by consumers the day after the Super Bowl.

Google — Parisian Love

From looking for study abroad programs in Paris, to learning how to impress a French girl, to finding the location of churches for a wedding—Google’s ad tells us one life story, all through what’s typed in the company’s search bar. Google’s commercial doesn’t outright sell their product. It showcases how one of the company’s tools can be used to solve any major life questions imaginable.

Reebok — Terry Tate: Office Linebacker

Are you breaking office rules? Watch out, because you might get tackled by fictional linebacker Terry Tate. Reebok’s short series of commercials is one of the funniest and successful ad campaigns to have aired during the Super Bowl. Even though the commercials ran only once on television, just one month after the Super Bowl more than 7 million consumers had gone to the Reebok site to download the Web films. These ads are hilarious because, well, who hasn’t dealt with an irritating coworker before?

McDonalds — The Showdown

In one of the most epic games of H-O-R-S-E documented, nemeses Larry Bird and Michael Jordan duke it out—for a Big Mac. They start off with simple shots and the commercial ends with the players discussing their next ridiculous move of bouncing basketballs off billboards, over expressways and off of rooftops. The ad appeals to sports fans and fast-food junkies alike. But, it’s also impossible to not get a laugh out of Michael Jordan’s MCHammer-esque get-up.

Xerox — Monks

Think about how many copies of office documents you make on a weekly basis. Now, imagine how much time it’d take to write out each of those by hand. In this ad, Brother Dominic is instructed to produce 500 copies of an old manuscript. Instead of panicking, he goes through a hidden passage that brings him to a modern-day office where a Xerox machine can make the copies for him, at the rate of two pages for second. The head monk describes the quick job as “a miracle.” Aired back in 1977, the “Monks” commercial led the way for the humorous, tongue-in-cheek commercials of today. And, when a company name becomes a verb for the product it sells, they must be doing something right.

Pepsi — Apartment 10G

Some guys will do anything for a pretty girl—in Michael J. Fox’s case, that means climbing out the window, running down streets through the rain—all to get a Diet Pepsi for his new neighbor. Not to mention that the commercial is set to great 80s music. The commercial as a whole makes an appeal to a younger audience, and advertises Diet Pepsi as “The choice of the new generation.”

When it comes to icons of American culture, few would dispute the global recognition enjoyed by McDonald’s golden arches or the Coca-Cola bottle.  But thanks to the constantly evolving world of pop culture, it may be time to add a new icon to the list: the poof.

And by poof, I’m of course referring to the signature coif sported by Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of MTV’s Jersey Shore.  What started as a one-off exposé of Italian-American culture has morphed into what is today a gorilla juicehead-sized juggernaut for the cable network, with episodes of the third season currently averaging nearly 9 million viewers a pop.  More crucial from an advertising perspective is the fact that nearly 7 million viewers in the highly-coveted 12-34 year old age group tune in each week to watch Snooki and friends fist pump and GTL their way across New Jersey’s Seaside Heights.  (And by the way, that’s “Gym Tan Laundry” for those not fully fluent in the rapidly expanding Jersey Shore lexicon.)

With ratings like that, one thing is clear: MTV needn’t let up.  The network announced last week that the cast is gearing up to film the fourth installment of the series, this time heading to Italy where Ronnie, Pauly D, JWoww, et al can revel in “the birthplace of the culture they love and live by.”

Yes, Jersey Shore is going global.

I personally can’t wait to watch Snooki stumble while navigating the Italian language (as well as Rome’s back alleys after a night at the clubs), but for now it’s fascinating to consider how this “globalization” will play out.  One of the key decisions multinational corporations face is whether to standardize the brand or regionalize it, and throwing the Shore gang into the heart of Italian culture brings this debate to the realm of reality TV.  Part of the series’ success thus far has stemmed from its ability to playfully document a very particular subculture: that of the self-described guidos and guidettes of the New York/New Jersey Tri-State area.  When watching Pauly D and Mike “The Situation” dodge grenades at Club Karma or overly-bronzed Snooki frantically run towards the beach, it’s clear that the cast members are in their element; the fun comes from watching their interactions with like-minded individuals who equally embrace the GTL philosophy.

But the same can’t necessarily be said about a move to Italy, where GTL may as well stand for “Gelato Tagliatelle Lamborghini”.  Despite MTV’s claims to the contrary, the cast members will be more of an oddity than the norm as they take to the Italian streets.  As the Wall Street Journal points out, the cast is in for quite the culture shock, and it’s unclear whether the shenanigans of trying to acclimate will make viewers at home laugh in empathy or cringe at this portrayal of Americans abroad.  The question facing MTV is whether the Jersey Shore gang is so captivating only because they’ve been in the right regional setting or whether the gang can stand on its own merits, cultural assimilation be damned.  Stay tuned for the answer in season four, and believe me, I have my remote ready.

Based on a true story, Will Smith plays the title role of Chris Gardner, a man who invests heavily in a product that doesn’t sell, and as he struggles to find his way loses his wife and home, and is forced to live on the streets at times with his young son.  Desperate to find a steady job, he takes on a job as a stockbroker, but before he can receive pay, he needs to go through 6 months of training.  This inspirational film is a great example of how persistence pays off, and also how to network.

In what is widely considered comedian Chris Farley’s most endearing film role, Tommy Boy is the story of Tommy Callahan, the inexperienced owner of an auto parts business who finds himself in charge of the ailing company’s entire operations after his father’s sudden death. Thrust into the role of clueless boss, the only hope Tommy has of saving his company is to go on the road and sell a line of new brake pads the old-fashioned way, face to face with the customer, just like his father used to.

Despite its light-hearted tone and slapstick comedy, Tommy Boy is a great sales movie. Every sales professional knows the frustration of trying to sell and then one day, the light bulb goes on and they “get it.” In relation to sales and marketing, that’s exactly what Tommy Boy is about.

Boiler Room follows the story of Seth Davis, the owner of a small-time illegal gambling operation, who trades in that job to join an illegal brokerage operation. The film is set in the late 1990s, and explores the get-rich-quick mentality that permeated the world of finance and sales at the time. The film’s mantra is to “Act as if”. Act as if you can afford the big house, the exotic car, and you’ll make your way. At times this movie feels like an homage to Wall Street, yet stands out for some unforgettable moments, including the cutthroat cold calls perpetrated by its characters.

At the heart of Oliver Stone’s 1987 film Wall Street is a story of morality amidst capitalism, and remains widely considered to be one of the most realistic films about finance and business. The film follows unscrupulous money manager Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) as he becomes a mentor to the ambitious young stockbroker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), and leads him down a path of greed and corruption through the world of insider trading. The lesson here is simple, and can be applied to any aspect of business: greed isn’t good.

“Always be closing.” Those are the iconic words that describe the tone and scene of this 1992 classic, which centers around four real estate salesmen doing everything they can to save their livelihoods after a representative from the corporate office blows into town to deliver a simple message: “The bad news is you’re all fired; the good news is you’ve got one week to regain your job.”

An amazing cast delivering some of the best performances of their careers helps propel this film beyond its sparse, almost stage-like settings. Every salesperson, no matter your industry, can find a relatable moment or character in what must surely be considered among the top films centered in the sales and marketing world.

Don’t see your favorite sales and marketing themed movie on this list? Be sure to comment!

By Kirsten Robinson

Since the dawn of film and television, product placement has been among the most subtle marketing tools.  For the right price, producers will seamlessly blend your brand into scenes and storylines.

Here we’ve included some fun facts about some of the more memorable product placement deals over the years– you might be surprised which ones essentially cost the featured brand(s) nothing!

Reese’s Pieces in “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial”

The appearance of Reese’s Pieces in E.T. is one of the most memorable examples of product placement. The bite-sized candies made their debut as young Elliot used them to lure E.T. out of hiding. Originally, producers approached Mars, Inc. about using M&M’s in the movie. Their pass on the opportunity was Hershey’s gain—Reese’s Pieces saw a 65% increase in sales after the film’s release.

AOL in “You’ve Got Mail”

It’s one thing for a product to appear as a background object in a scene—but America Online’s presence in You’ve Got Mail was all consuming. Not only was AOL’s sign-in phrase the movie’s title, but the entire plotline centered around Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks’ characters using the Internet product to communicate with each other.

FedEx & Wilson in “Cast Away”

Whenever I see a FedEx truck, it immediately conjures up the image of Tom Hanks yelling “Willlsooonn!” as he paddles his ramshackle raft in Cast Away. This may not have been FedEx’s or Wilson’s intention—but through product placement, the two brands created long-term recognition. As a dedicated FedEx employee, Hanks’ character immediately brings attention to Fed Ex, while Wilson the volleyball was a stand-out as Hanks’ only companion on the island.  Believe it or not, FedEx and Wilson didn’t have to pay for their placement.

American Airlines & Hilton Hotels, “Up in the Air”

Both American Airlines and Hilton offered their products to the producers of Up in the Air. Using the two brands enabled the film to achieve the authenticity they sought, while simultaneously giving AA and Hilton essentially free exposure.

For additional reading, access our best tools and insights on Marketing Communications Channels.

One thing that’s abundantly clear in comparing this year’s list to that of previous years is the slow but steady maturation of YouTube as a communications channel. In previous years – like 2006 – the most popular videos included the free hugs campaign, the Evolution of Dance, and some guys lip-synching the Pokemon theme song.

But by 2008, we had seen a huge change – the top 5 clips were all pop music videos, as record labels found that YouTube drove purchases of singles from digital music stores like iTunes.

Now, in 2010, we’re seeing a similar trend, and YouTube has noticed – it’s produced two different top 10 lists, one without major label music videos, and one with. No surprises – Justin Bieber dominated the YouTube charts in 2010. But even some of the non-music videos have a distinctly mainstream sensibility far afield from the quirky tendencies of early YouTube. Don’t get me wrong – a lot of it’s still very odd – list a bit more mainstream, as the userbase grows and companies find businesses opportunities through the channel.

The other trend is that of the remix – taking original works and creating derivatives of them, often with greater success than the original. Remixing is a key part of internet culture, and another reminder that your brands belong as much to your consumers as they do to you.

Here’s a look at the top 5, and our thoughts after each:

1) The Bed Intruder Song – Antoine Dodson

By far my favorite YouTube moment of 2010. Antoine Dodson’s rise to Internet superstardom began with an overwrought, anguished spot on a local news channel, reacting to an intruder who had attempted to attack his sister. His over-the-top interview became fodder for the creators of Autotune the News, who gave it the hip-hop treatment and rocketed this video to over 50 million views and a best-selling single on iTunes.

2) Greyson Chance Singing Papparazi

Continuing the remix theme, this clip of a sixth-grader singing Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” scored the youngster a record deal and buzz as the next Justin Bieber.

3) Annoying Orange Wazzup

Another sign that public-domain branding is now the norm – it took me a second to remember that “wazzup” was a Budweiser campaign from the late nineties, and that this really annoying and slightly creepy video is a derivative of that.

4) Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

The first outright piece of branding on the list, Old Spice’s campaign was massively successful on both television and, apparently, YouTube (you can see our thoughts on the campaign here). ROI is notoriously hard to gauge in advertising campaigns, but there’s solid evidence that the campaign at least coincided with a significant percentage increase in Old Spice body wash sales.

5) Double Rainbow

Here’s the one true piece of traditional, quirky YouTube on the list. Paul Vasquez, the man speaking in the video, is a retired firefighter living in Yosemite National Park. He saw a double rainbow in front of his house – and this was his reaction. Utterly hilarious – and marketers noticed. He became a Microsoft pitchman in September.

By Kirsten Robinson

How competitive were you with your childhood best friend? Remember how it felt when you both tried out for the same sports team, and only one of you made the cut? Or, when the “A” you got on a paper wasn’t good enough, because your friend got an “A+.” Competitive relationships keep us on our toes, striving to do better. Having a friend who outdid us academically ended up encouraging some of us to go home and study harder. Companies also work to best each other, and comparative advertising is one channel they use to do so.

Here’s a compilation of some of the most memorable feuds:

Audi vs. BMW

Ouch. Ever hear the term “Second place is just the first place loser”? That’s the spin Audi puts on their ad telling consumers how BMW has been their runner-up in three Car and Driver comparisons. They may be sticking to the facts, but the delivery is anything but “friendly.”

Years earlier, BMW compares automatic stability control between the two brands, and of shows Audi coming up short with a zing on Audi’s logo.

Mac vs. PC

No relationship works without trust. That’s why this commercial questioning PC’s ability to keep a promise and deliver an improved operating system hits where it counts. Consumers need to trust a brand to produce a reliable product, or else they won’t want to invest their dollars.

Mac does a great job of keeping their Mac vs. PC ads humorous—it makes their vicious nature less obvious. Like someone that smiles as they stab you in the back.

In their counter-attack, PC doesn’t ignore Mac’s now famous stereotype of the “PC guy.” Instead, they created a commercial challenging the typecast, showing PC users as a global, diverse group. PC’s montage of real people out and about in the world is quite a departure from the commercials where Mac stereotypes even their own consumers into one character.

Verizon vs. AT&T

Sure, an ad can verbally claim superiority—but adding a visual comparison really takes it up a level. Verizon uses side-by-side map graphics to show the contrast between theirs and AT&T’s 3G network coverage. And, as we can see, the Verizon map wins the contest.

But, what visual catches your attention more—a map, or a headless Luke Wilson? AT&T’s commercial also takes on a side-by-side comparison, but humorously focuses on the fact that their 3G network is supposedly faster than Verizon’s.

Bud Light v. Miller Lite

It’s a battle of the beers. Apparently, “some people will do anything to get the great taste of Bud Light”—including dressing as faux referees, confiscating the “ineligible” Bud Lights from a backyard barbecue, and replacing them with Miller Lite. That’s the main message, but the real zinger comes in the form of the disgusted reactions the cool, young partygoers have toward the beer.

Miller Lite’s commercial directly states that the brand is better than Bud Light, claiming more taste and half the carbohydrates. And who can resist a cute dog? Miller Lite enlists the help of one of Budweiser’s mascots to show viewers what they, too, should be doing—switching loyalty to their brand.

What do you think? Would your company ever take to this?