Secrets Of Commercials That Stole The Show

Great advertising sticks in your mind long after the campaign. Remember the California Raisins? "Where's the Beef?" "Great Taste - Less Filling" and the ubiquitous Energizer Bunny?

Some say advertising may be the great American art form, and Bernice Kanner certainly endorses that idea in "The 100 Best TV Commercials . . . and Why They Worked" (Random House, $29.95).

Kanner, who has written about Madison Avenue for New York magazine for 13 years, was invited to view the world's top 100 television commercials as chosen by international experts.

Kanner explains why the commercials worked, and manufacturers and advertising executives discuss the campaigns with some interesting insights.

Here are a few you most likely remember, and some others not seen in the United States.

-- MARLBORO "Come to Marlboro Country" (Leo Burnett, 1967)

Cowboys light up cigarettes by an open fire in the early morning.

Marlboro, which was originally marketed as a women's cigarette in 1920 ("Mild as May"), dwindled to one-quarter of 1 percent of the U.S. market by 1950. Marlboro had sales of $10 billion in 1997.

David Dangoor of Philip Morris said the campaign worked because the cowboy "lived his life by his own principles. It's believable that a man would only smoke a cigarette he likes."

-- ENERGIZER "Bunny" (TBWA Chiat/Day, 1989)

The scene opens on a competition of battery-operated toys with the ultra-cool pink bunny banging his drum louder and louder as the

voice-over continues. He marches off into the studio as people shout to stop him, through a coffee ad, through a sinus-decongestant ad, through a snooty wine-tasting ad. "Nothing outlasts the Energizer. They keep going and going."

Most campaigns last three years; the bunny has proven indefatigable.

-- COCA-COLA "Have a Coke and a Smile" (McCann-Erickson Worldwide, 1979)

Beat up after a tough loss, pro football player "Mean" Joe Greene grudgingly accepts a Coke from a star-struck fan - then, with a grin, throws the kid his jersey.

This was the top commercial of the year and capitalized on tough guys, as Marlboro did. The transition from "Mean Joe" to "Nice Joe" brought a smile to customers.

-- BARTLES & JAYMES "Yuppies" (Hal Riney & Partners, 1986)

Two farmers introduce their new wine cooler from a wooden porch.

Almost-famous Frank Bartles was actually Bend, Ore., hog farmer David Rufkahr. He and his sidekick, Dick Maugg, sold Gallo wine coolers as the pseudo hayseeds Bartles & Jaymes.

Rufkahr's halting delivery was so genuine that people actually wrote to help Ed pay off the second mortgage he had allegedly taken on his house to get the business started.

Within two years, wine-cooler sales topped $700 million.

-- KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL "Crying Indian" (Marsteller Inc., 1970)

Cherokee Indian Iron Eyes Cody paddles his canoe past smokestacks and stands by a highway as litter is thrown at his feet. A single tear runs down his cheek. "People start pollution, people can stop it."

In the 1970s, 94 percent of viewers recognized the ad. Cody served as "Keep America Beautiful" spokesman for decades.

But when he died in 1999, Cody turned out to have been an Italian-American from Louisiana, who changed his name from Oscar DeCorti when he got to Hollywood.

-- BRAATHENS SAFE "Naked Lunch" (Leo Burnett, Norway, 1993)

An amorous husband lets himself into his apartment to surprise his wife with a midday rendezvous. He strips off his clothes, looks though the keyhole and sees her in the living room. With only a rose in his teeth, he bursts in . . . to find his in-laws in town for a surprise visit. "Warning: We're flying in your in-laws at half-price. Braathens SAFE."

Braathens was Norway's national airline, relatively unknown beside SAS. What started out as a discount fare for seniors snowballed into a 5 percent increase in market share within three years. Now Braathens is the largest domestic carrier.