Tuesday Throwback: MasterCard’s “Priceless”

This MasterCard commercial debuted during the 1997 World Series. The use of a baseball-themed ad featuring a father and an 11 year old son really stood out to me because I was 11 at the time. The spot was so well-received that it began a long running campaign (I think MasterCard still uses it, though I haven’t seen one in a while), and “Priceless” entered the pop culture lexicon. So here’s where it all started.

A Man Is Reunited With His Long-Lost Family Thanks To Google Earth

As a 5 year old, Saroo Brierly boarded a runaway train in his native India and became separated from his family. After wandering the streets of Kolkata for weeks, he entered an orphanage, and ended up being adopted by a family in Australia. Still, Saroo wanted to find his family. People said it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but 26 years later, he found his family with the help of exhaustive searching on Google Earth. Google’s ads excel at the storytelling aspects, and this is another amazing one. You can read the entire story in Saroo Brierly’s book A Long Way Home. Great job.

Tuesday Throwback: Budweiser’s Wassup?

Budweiser’s “Wassup?” campaign ran from 1999 to 2002, and I’ve posted the original ad. It of course featured friends using the titular phrase until it became humorously contorted. As could be expected, the commercial was hilarious and “wassup?” became a national catchphrase which got old real quickly. The people who used it for years tended to be the types who said “and this one time at band camp…” in everyday conversation until 2010.

Ron Burgundy’s Funny And Goofy Dodge Durango Commercials

First off, this is the 500th post on Commercial Society. So that’s cool. Ron Burgundy is also cool, and he’s starring in this wacky Dodge Durango campaign created by Wieden+Kennedy. Here’s more information on the campaign from Adfreak, and the first six spots (another 67 are planned online!)

Ally Bank’s Accident-Prone Woman

Ally Bank wants people to try new things. They have no branches, but you can reach them 24/7. Of course, if you’re like this lady, you might be hesitant to try new things…what with the the electricity and fire-related foibles. Definitely laughed out loud at this one.