When Super Bowl XLI kicks off this Sunday in Miami, millions of Americans will huddle together to watch the Chicago Bears battle the Indianapolis Colts in a riveting climax to this year’s football season – but another important battle will take place as well:

 

The battle to be named 2007’s top Super Bowl commercial.

 

At an estimated cost of $2.6 million to air a 30-second commercial, the financial stakes are steep and the competition is cutthroat.  To celebrate this seminal day in television advertising, “The Billion Dollar Man”™ Bob Circosta – the most prolific TV salesman in American history and the only man to have sold over 75,000 different products on live television – has announced his list of the 30 greatest commercials to ever air in conjunction with the Super Bowl, on the basis of impact, sales and viewer memorability.

 

“All of these commercials represent monumental marketing achievements,” said Bob Circosta, president and founder of Bob Circosta Communications, Inc.  “The top two commercials on our list, the 1984 Macintosh launch by Apple Computer and the 1989 ‘Bud Bowl’ campaign by Anheuser-Busch, managed to transcend marketing and actually became staples of our American culture.  As an expert in the art of television sales, I salute these innovative and highly effective TV spots.”

 

Budweiser earned seven mentions on Circosta’s list, a tribute to its longstanding creative Super Bowl advertisements.  Pepsi ranked second on the countdown with five mentions.  The most recent commercial to earn a spot in Circosta’s top-ten was Reebok’s “Terry Tate, Office Linebacker” ads from 2003.

 

Why did Circosta choose to name the top 30 commercials?  It’s because 2007 marks the 30^th anniversary of the “Sales Pitch that Changed the World” – the moment when Bob Circosta’s radio sales pitch gave birth to the entire home shopping/electronic retailing industry.  It all began in 1977; AM talk-show host Bob Circosta was asked to sell avocado-green-colored can openers live on the air by station owner Bud Paxson when an advertiser traded him 112 units of product in lieu of money.  Hesitant at first, Circosta reluctantly obliged – and to both men’s surprise, all 112 can openers sold out in under an hour.  Paxson sensed the vast sales potential of home-based shopping and founded a local home shopping cable channel, later launching nationwide with the Home Shopping Network (HSN).  Bob Circosta was their first ever home shopping TV host, becoming one of the most instantly recognizable salesmen in the free world.  Over the next three decades, Circosta sold over 75,000 different products, netted over 20,000 hours of live, on-air TV selling – and achieved personal product sales in excess of one billion dollars.

 

From the innocuous radio sales pitch of avocado-green-colored can openers, the multi-billion dollar shop-at-home, electronic retailing industry was born.

 

 

30. Monster.com: “When I Grow Up” (1999)

29. Pepsi: “Security Camera Catches Coke Employee Stealing Pepsi” (1996)

28. Doritos: “Laundromat” (1998)

27. Budweiser: “Salute to American Soldiers” (2006)

26. Xerox: “Monks” (1977)

25. Pepsi: “Cindy Crawford” (1992)

24. Budweiser: “What Are You Doing?” (2002)

23. Lipton: “Bo Jackson” (1994)

22. Budweiser: “Whassup?” (2001)

21. Disney: “I’m Going to Disneyworld!” (1987)

20. Pepsi: “Michael J. Fox in Apartment 10G” (1987)

19. Master Lock: “Marksman” (1974)

18. Mountain Dew: “Cheetah” (2000)

17. Nissan Maxima: “Pigeons” (1997)

16. Federal Express: “Caveman Sticks” (2006)

15. Pepsi: “Diner” (1995)

14. Budweiser: “Clydesdales Play Football” (1996)

13. Electronic Data Systems: “Herding Cats” (2000)

12. Noxzema: “Joe Namath & Farrah Fawcett” (1973)

11. Budweiser: “Spuds MacKenzie” (1987)

10. Tabasco: “Mosquito” (1998)

9. Pepsi: “Michael Jackson’s Choice of a New Generation” (1984)

8. Nike: “Hare Jordan” (1992)

7. Reebok: “Terry Tate, Office Linebacker” (2003)

6. Budweiser: “Frogs” (1995)

5. McDonald’s: “Showdown between Larry Bird and Michael Jordan” (1993)

4. Coca-Cola: “Mean Joe Greene’s Jersey” (1980)

3. E*Trade: “Monkey” (2000)

2. Budweiser: “Bud Bowl” (1989)

1. Apple Computer: “1984” (1984)