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

7. Atari Mario Bros.

The Mario Bros. weren’t always as cool as they are now. Back then, they were just the characters from Donkey Kong getting their own chance to shine. And how did Atari present that shine? With a horribly incompetent singing plumber who spends the bulk of the 30 second ad belting off-key cries for help to his brother Mario. I seriously think this was the inspiration for the Super Mario Bros. Super Show.

6. The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past On Super Famicom

What could be better than two nerdy boys rapping about The Legend of Zelda on NES? A whole bunch of Japanese dancers dressed up as Zelda characters dancing to promote The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, on the Japanese equivalent of the SNES, the Super Famicom.

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Drug-Free PSA

Just remember kids; if someone calls you a chicken in a school hallway while trying to offer you joints, counter-act it by calling them a turkey! This was one of the cheesiest PSAs I’ve ever seen, but it was about saying no to drugs and it had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in it. What could you not love about this?

4. Star Wars Smoking PSA

I wonder just how many people smoking today might not be smokers had they seen this epic Star Wars PSA featuring C-3P0 and R2-D2 touching on the dangers of smoking and imploring people not to pick up the habit. Smokers, these are the droids you’re looking for!

3. Clue 

If you weren’t already sold on the idea of the murder-mystery board game, this 1995 commercial for Clue will certainly do the trick. It’s one of those rare games that is every bit as fun as its advertising suggests and no two games end the same.

2. NES PowerGlove

On the flip side, we have this; a commercial for an infamous NES accessory known as the PowerGlove. Unlike Clue, this contraption isn’t anywhere near being as cool as it’s presented in this ad. Then again, if Nintendo had released a commercial showcasing the PowerGlove’s honest performance, no one would have bought the thing.

1. Crash Bandicoot Calls Out Nintendo

While Crash never spoke in the games, his commercial counterpart did. Loudly. With a microphone. And as cheesy as this was, it took major stones to call out Nintendo poster boy Mario, and at Nintendo HQ no less! Now, if we can just get them to make another Crash Bandicoot game…

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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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