The 18 Best Advertisements & Ad Campaigns of All Time

 I've always been a little leery of proclaiming anything "the best." I never declared anyone my best friend as a kid because I was afraid my other friends might assume I thought less of them.

So it was a little difficult for me to come up with just one "best" advertisement of all time — which is why there are 18 in this post instead.

What makes these some of the best ads of all time?

Because of the impact they had on the growth of the brand, and because they manage to hit on some universal truth that allows us to remember these campaigns years after they first began. In fact, some of us might not have even been alive when these campaigns first aired.

But to know what makes an advertisement great, you first need to know how an advertisement is defined.


Advertisements

Advertisements are written or visual messages dedicated to promoting a specific product, service, or campaign. Businesses can pay the owner of a channel or platform that reaches a similar audience to broadcast this message. Two of the biggest challenges in advertising are measuring the value of the advertisement and ensuring it resonates with the right people.

As you can imagine, there are numerous types of advertisements — all of which run in different mediums, on different channels, and have different goals in mind for their business. People can advertise anywhere, and today's best type of ad might not be the best type tomorrow. 

Types of Advertisements

Here are four basic examples of advertising from the past few centuries (yikes), from earliest to latest.


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