14 Commercials from the 80s and 90s That You’ll Never Forget

While there will always be some debate as to whether or not today’s TV shows, games and movies can match up to the great hits of decades past, there is one area where the classics just can’t be beaten: the commercial. 

Commercials have gotten a lot prettier and flashier thanks to huge budgets and modern technology but what TV advertisements of the 80’s and 90’s lacked in sizzle, they more than made up for with steak. Here are 14 commercials from your childhood that you just can’t forget about.

14. Nickelodeon Magazine, Please!

It was pretty much impossible to grow up in the 90’s and early 2000’s without seeing this catchy, albeit slightly obnoxious, commercial for Nickelodeon Magazine. While it might have gotten annoying, it was effective and as overbearing as Nickelodeon might have come across, they counteracted it with good manners. Nickelodeon Magazine, please!

13. Crossfire

When I was a kid, I didn’t even know what Crossfire was, but I knew I wanted it. Commercials like these, you didn’t really have to pay that much attention to the game itself, because the rad music and the fire and explosions had already etched this into your brain for life.

12. Sock ‘Em/Socker Boppers

Sock’Em Boppers, originally called Socker Boppers, not only had a catchy theme song, they were also free license to beat the Flintstones vitamins out of your friends while pretending to be Mike Tyson from Super Punch-Out !!.

 11. Mr. Bucket

Mr. Bucket gained notoriety in the 90’s for being an innocent-enough toy with a very poorly worded commercial. The game itself is pretty non-threatening. What threw parents for a loop was the verbiage of the commercial, which repeatedly utilized the phrases “your balls” and “my mouth” as Mr. Bucket sang to their children. While spitting their balls back at them.

10. Operation

What kid didn’t want to play doctor at some point in their childhood? Operation was a game that allowed children to do just that. If the concept alone wasn’t enough to sell the game, there was also this catchy ad from 1997 that took advantage of the game’s penchant for medical puns and general hilarity.

9. Creepy Crawlers

What wasn’t there to love about Creepy Crawlers? You could make your own realistic(ish) spiders and worms and other nasty bugs and throw them at your annoying little sister! You could also make your own Power Rangers action figures. And that jingle always gets stuck in your head.

8. The Legend of Zelda Rap

Nothing sums up the fantastical and adventurous nature of The Legend of Zelda on NES quite like…a rap? The kid is definitely no Jay-Z but, awful lyricism aside, the roll call of Zelda enemies combined with the vibrant and colorful screenshots of the game were more than enough to hook(shot?) most kids.

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One Comment

  1. Looking for a 1980s insurance commercial of a little girl being interviewed. .she puts on red lipstick..has a young Madonna look to her. The commercial implies it’ll still be around when she grows up.
    can u help me find this? Her famous words were “growing up” my dad has always made reference to this to me as I got older. It’s our” thing”
    I’d love to see it again 30 years later:)

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