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Funny / Advertising

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Sometimes ads do more than just make you want to spend... Sometimes they make you roll on the floor laughing so much that you don't even remember what they were selling.

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  • The “Where’s The Cream Filling?” commercials from Hostess, which involve somebody having an Imagine Spot of its Cup Cakes or Twinkies snacks, only to find out too late that they are anything but either of those, are pure comedy gold!
  • "Thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen, thirteen..." (Eye Poke) "Fourteen! Fourteen! Fourteen!" Followed by an extremely clever tie-in to the product (Cash Converters, an Australia-based secondhand goods dealer and loan agency).
  • "How far can I get with this?" "You can get out." It's true. A dollar won't get you very far in a taxi.
  • The Budget Commercials
  • GEICO pretty much always has funny commercials ideas, at least when they keep them fresh.
  • E*Trade: "Well, we just wasted two million bucks. What are you doing with your money?"
  • "Actually, it may in fact be a moth." So funny, the audio is used in Pixar's Up when Carl is watching TV.
  • ICE CREAM AND CAKE DO THE ICE CREAM AND CAKE
  • Keep your eyes closed, and try saying this is not funny as hell. Also counts as a Moment of Awesome for Peter Cullen.
  • The Cadbury Gorilla, people. THE CADBURY GORILLA. Also, the Cadbury Eyebrows. Moment of Awesome for some.
  • This commercial featuring a strange egg-shapped creature advertising Kinder Surprise Eggs. Okay, the creature himself was pretty freaky, but his vocabulary isn't.
  • The "I'm Batman" Snickers commercial.
    "Hello, good citizen. I am Batman. You can be my assistant. Would you like that? Would you like to ride with Batman?"
  • The funniest Got Milk? commercial was hands-down the one with the Trix Rabbit. The poor guy just can not catch a break!
    • See also this, TIME Magazine's favorite from the campaign's first year in 1995.
    • The magazine counterparts with the celebrity milk mustaches generally aren't as funny, but a mid-'90s one featuring supermodel Iman proclaiming that the benefits of milk are "everything a woman could want. Well, that and a chance to meet my husband... I guess" is a gem.
    • There was also a milk advertisement featuring Mario, literally jumping out of the television screen to get some milk and grow bigger.
    • This one falls more into Black Comedy. A mom tells her children to drink their milk, to which they don't want to.
      Mom: I happen to know that milk builds strong bones. So drink up.
      Boy: Well, Mr. Miller told me he never drinks milk, and look at him!
      Girl: Yeah.
      Mr. Miller: Hi, kids!
      (Mr. Miller picks up his wheelbarrow...and then his arms snap directly out of their sockets.)
      Boy and Girl: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!
      Mr. Miller: Oh, that's not good.
      (The kids drink their milk like there's no tomorrow... and so does the mom, most likely being disturbed over what's happened, too.)
  • Then there's this Super Bowl commercial for Pepsi that is a parody of both the Kasparov/Deep Blue chess tournaments and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Bonus points for actually getting Garry Kasparov himself to appear.
  • "Thanks to Discovery.com, I learned that most meteorites burn up in Earth's atmosphere!" (fwoosh) "Ahh, the atmosphere. Ahhhhh."
  • A surely unintentional example, which could be interpreted as either Hypocritical Humor or Irony, comes from a print advertisement seen in a San Francisco bus shelter. The ad depicted a helpless woman trapped in the strangling coils of a gas station hose while the dastardly attendant takes all her money (in reference to the extremely high gas prices.) The ad suggested that instead of driving a car and thus being gouged and exploited, people should use the Muni transit system to get around. But what was at the bottom of the sign, as it is on every single bus shelter? The typical disclaimer: "The views expressed in this ad are not necessarily those of Muni." So they don't even believe their own pitches? Perhaps there's truth in advertising after all...
  • Another surely unintentional example is seen in a spot from Walmart’s "Made in the USA" campaign that debuted during the 2014 Winter Olympics. With visuals of factory employees hard at work and a caption stating the company’s pledge to invest $250 billion in products from American factories, the ad purported to be a consummate celebration of American industry. Problem: the song used in the ad was "Working Man" by Rush. That’s right, the band that many praise as the greatest to ever come out of Canada.
  • Guten TAAAG!
  • Put a mustache on Ken, and make believe he's the bad guy.
  • These Doritos ads:
  • Brett Favre, Super Bowl 2020 MVP "I should probably retire after this.... I don't know."
  • Doritos Dolly Detective This little girl will do anything to find her dolly, even if it means crunching her brother's Doritos right in front of him.
  • The Doritos time machine ad from the 2014 Super Bowl. A kid named Jimmy tricks an adult into giving him his bag of Doritos by telling him that his "time machine" (really made out of cardboard) runs on Doritos. The ad is made much funnier by the adult's hamminess. When he's in the "time machine", Jimmy pushes it back and forth from the outside, which makes the guy think that it's working ("THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!"). They are interrupted when a grumpy old guy bursts out of his house and tells them to get off of his yard. The guy gets out of the "time machine" and thinks that the old guy is a grown-up Jimmy.
    "Jimmy?! You're so old. [looks around] It's the FUTURE!"
  • A lot of the more recent Old Spice commercials are hilarious, with their complete unapologetic use of implied Testosterone Poisoning and deadpan humor, but the best one would have to be their iconic Super Bowl Special: "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like":
    "Hello, ladies. Look at your man. Now back to me. Now back at your man. Now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me. But if he stopped using lady-scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he's me. Look down. Back up. Where are you? You're on a boat, with the man your man could smell like. What's in your hand? Back at me. I have it. It's an oyster with two tickets to that thing you love. Look again. The tickets are now diamonds! Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady. I'm on a horse.
  • The U.S. Postal Service ad with the family that's trying to get rid of the clown doll — funny and creepy both!
  • MAMMA MIA! That's a spicy meatball!
  • Man Vs. Stomach . Thank you, R.O. Blechman and Gene Wilder.
  • Fixing Broken Britain. And then breaking it, and then fixing it again just to make sure.
  • Volkswagen Jetta plus shopping cart equals diving tackle.
  • The Dutch "Even Apeldoorn bellen" commercials. Going strong for over 20 years, each of them funny in their own way. Advertisement for insurance done right. More often than not there are no spoken words, so go and raid YouTube for the vids.
  • Mr.T advertising Snickers Bars...with a tank.
  • WOW! THAT'S A LOW PRICE!
  • "Save more bucks at the Mattress Ranch!" What really does it though, is the little dance he does at the end complete with a couple of chicken-wing gestures.
  • Oh my god! My gum just changed from berry to mint! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!!!??
  • He's hungry for danger, he can take the heat! Fully Loaded Man has BALLS OF MEAT!
  • Stan Freberg is the man who practically invented funny TV commercials.
  • The Corn Nuts Ad. Bust a nut! Bust a nut! (with Suspiciously Specific Denial at the beginning to boot)
    Go to your room and lock the door,
    Cause when you try it once you'll want to try it some more.
    Size doesn't matter and that's a fact,
    It might be small but it has a big impact!
    Bust a nut! Bust a nut! Grab a bag of corn nuts and bust a nut!
    They're lightly toasted and hard as well!
    Enjoy yourself, we won't tell.
  • This GameStop commercial for Transformers: War for Cybertron promoting the unlockable Shockwave character offered with a preorder. Shockwave flies in, at which point Megatron gives him temporary command and flies off. Shockwave orders Soundwave to transform into a tape player and begins playing "The Touch", by Stan Bush. Shockwave begins to dance and shoot in time with the music. Starscream protests, naturally, leading to:
    Shockwave: When your hit percentage exceeds mine you may choose the soundtrack!
    • Merges with a Moment of Awesome when the War For Cybertron Soundwave toy can assume a boom box mode... unintentionally.
  • IT'S NANNERPUSS! The best part is how obviously fake it is. Not only can you see the strings, but one of his eyes falls off.
  • Red Steel: okay game, hilarious commercial. "YOUR ANCESTORS ARE WEEPING!"
  • Boss Coffee, a brand of coffee in Japan, has a series of commercials centered around "Alien Jones", an alien disguised as (and portrayed by) Tommy Lee Jones who came to study life on earth. Awkward misunderstandings and bizarre superhuman feats (accompanied by Jones' Surprisingly Good Japanese narration) ensue. Watch as Alien Jones tries to cut it as a teacher, a train station attendant, and a waiter at a karaoke bar.
  • Budweiser's Real Men Of Genius ads.
    • A particularly good one is Rolling Cooler Cooler Roller. "It's got wheels!" and "Only you understand the best way to carry 9 ounces of macaroni salad is in a 43-pound cooler" are some utterly side-splitting highlights.
    • Sometimes, it's the announcer's snark that makes the ads memorable.
      (about Mr. Giant Taco Salad Inventor): Some may ask "Is your taco salad healthy?" Of course it is - it's a salad, isn't it?
      (about Mr. "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" Pin Wearer): You have high standards when it comes to women - anyone who can read.
      (about Mr. Blue Aluminum Bottle Maker): Sure, we need a beer this cold, should we ever find ourselves running wind sprints at the bottom of an active volcano.
      (about Mr. Pro Sports Heckler Guy): Thanks to you, our team is armed with game-winning tips like "catch the ball" and "throw it".
      (about Mr. Golf Tournament Quiet Sign Holder Upper): You know there's one thing this spectator sport could really do without: spectators.
      (about Mr. 80 SPF Sunblock Wearer): There are 24 hours in a day. You're wearing 80-hour protection. If the sun fails to go down, you'll be ready.
      (about Mr. Pro Football Coach Cord Carrier): You weave your way down the sidelines passing linemen like they're standing still. Because they are.
      (about Mr. Overly Competitive Touch Football Game Player): The way you play the game will always leave us in stitches.
      (about Mr. Centerfold Retoucher): Thanks to you, we can enjoy real beauty the way we like it - completely fake.

    • Sometimes, it's the vocalist (Dave Bickler of Survivor) that sells the ads.
      (about Mr. Stadium Scoreboard Marriage Proposal Guy)
      Announcer: It's the perfect plan, unless her name is spelled wrong, she's in the bathroom, or she says no.
      Vocalist: Pretty please!

      (about Mr. Paranoid of the Ocean Guy)
      Announcer: Bravely, you step into the water. One wrong move, and you could be pinched to death by a hermit crab.
      Vocalist: Tell my wife I love her!

      (about Mr. Golf Tournament Quiet Sign Holder Upper)
      Announcer: Boldly, you patrol the line between order and anarchy, armed with only your wits, your resolve, and and your tiny cardboard sign stapled to a stick.
      Vocalist: Actually, I glued it on!

      (about Mr. T-Shirt Launcher Inventor)
      Announcer: So simple, anyone can operate it - after a background check, a training course, and a five-day waiting period.
      Vocalist: It only shoots t-shirts!

      (about Mr. Giant Pocket Knife Inventor)
      Announcer: What's that bulge in my pocket? It's my knife. And my tweezers. And my scissors. And my spoon. And my bottle opener. And my fish scaler.
      Vocalist: Take it to the max!
      Announcer: And my leather awl. And my corkscrew. And my nail file. And my paring knife. And my hasp.
      Vocalist: What's a hasp?

      (about Mr. Electric Carving Knife Inventor)
      Announcer: You have given us a tool with the amazing ability to cut through meat, potatoes and, on occasion, an index finger.
      Vocalist: I need a medic!
      Announcer: Nothing captures the excitement of Thanksgiving like two hundred and twenty volts of electricity shooting through a really sharp knife.
      Vocalist: I still need a medic!
      Announcer: Finished carving that bird? There’s an unruly shrub out back that could use a little trim.
      Vocalist: Seriously, call a medic!
    • Sometimes, the chorus has the funniest lines.
      (about Mr. Losing Locker Room Reporter)
      Announcer: Wherever a semi-naked man is crying like a schoolgirl because he lost a ball game, you are there.
      Chorus: So sad, too bad now!

      (about Mr. Backyard Bug Zapper Inventor)
      Announcer: Every night, a magical explosion of exoskeleton and insect goo that can mean only one thing - summer's here.
      Chorus: Die bugs, die!

      (about Mr. Centerfold Retoucher)
      Announcer: Any artist can say their work is in a gallery, but how many can say their work is stuffed under mattresses around the world?
      Chorus: You're gonna go blind!

      (about Mr. Company Computer Guy)
      Announcer: The countless hours we spend surfing the internet and accidentally stumbling upon porn sites would instead be spent working.
      Vocalist: Workin' for the man!
      Announcer: So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, Mr. Company Computer Guy, for it's you who keeps our logons logging and our hard drives hard.
      Chorus: You gotta see this porn site!

      (about Mr. Really Bad Toupee Wearer)
      Announcer: Made of space-age fibers, it can repel anything—rain, wind, snow, and especially, young women.
      Chorus: I don't think so!
      Announcer: So crack open a nice cold Budweiser, Mr. Stud-In-a-Rug, then crack open another for that thing on your head.
      Chorus: I don't think it's on straight!

      (about Mr. Chinese Food Delivery Guy)
      Announcer: Because somewhere a guy is waiting for his kung pao crab puffs, and he's got $1.57 with your name on it.
      Chorus: That's 10%!
    • These ads also hit a bit an Awesome- and Heartwarming-Moment material when they changed the ad theme to this. Originally, the ads were titled "Real American Heroes"...then 9/11 came along, after which the ads were renamed...after all, now we knew what a Real American Hero truly was.
  • Don't mess with the Sasquatch. EVER.
  • GO COMPAAAREEE!! While many people find these ads annoying, there's a funny (and awesome) thing in this ad: the guy flies with his moustache.
  • Also, "Get thee to Money Supermarket dot com!"
  • "You can get with this, or you can get with that."
  • "Exaggerated slide, over the top fall, no harm done."
  • The Simpsons:
    • On one of the early Simpsons box sets (Season 2?), one of the extras is a set of Simpsons commercials. One was of Fridays lovingly describing a sharing platter, with Homer drooling and reckoning that he's going to have one all to himself, and then the punchline — "Offer not available to cartoon characters". Cue a big "D'oh!".
    • From the Butterfinger campaign, the ad for the bite-sized BBs candies, as Homer gets distracted from reading an ABC book to Maggie by Bart and Lisa tossing them about. Big bonus points for Kent Brockman handling the "By Nestle!" voiceover at the end.
  • Snickers didn't just hit the nail on the head for a funny Halloween commercial—they took a one-ton brick of lead to it. For the sake of reference, Fake Woman is two kids dressed as an eight-foot-tall woman with a rubber mask for a face, and Real Woman is a real woman.
    Fake Woman: “I see you don't have any Snickers in your shopping cart. The neighborhood children loooove Snickers. Here, let me help you.” Begins flinging bags of Snickers into Real Woman's cart.
    Real Woman: tries to pull her cart away.
    Fake Woman: “I'm only helping you.” Pulls cart back, continues flinging.
  • In an offbeat case of Japandering this Italian bottled water ad featuring David Bowie was reedited to serve as the U.S. commercial for his album Reality, based as it is on the witty premise of Turn of the Millennium Bowie sharing a house with most of his stage/album personas from The '70s, plus the "Ashes to Ashes" Pierrot.
  • Sprint:
    • The ad for the "Fair and Flexible Plan":
      Executive: (smirking) It's my little way of...sticking it to the man.
      Assistant: But...you...are the man.
      Executive: I know.
      Assistant: So you're sticking it to yourself?
      (Beat.)
      Executive: Maybe.
  • Sprint's Data Dilemma commercials.
    • The videoconference one:
      "These shorts are for a younger person, wouldn't you say?"
    • The NASCAR Sprint Data Dilemma with Jimmie Johnson is also pretty cool:
      Jimmie: Man, we're door to door, I've got the better car, fresher tires, I drove it in deep... and you missed it. I know you wanted to watch it, but you got throttled by your data plan and it slowed you down. [clip of Jimmie racing alongside Brad Keselowski slows to a stop] You hit your data limit streaming all that techno music, didn't ya? ["I like the pum pum pum"  by Marsianik starts playing for a few seconds] I mean really? [music stops] Man, you've got some questionable tastes in music.
  • Also, this Sprint ad from Super Bowl LI:
    Man: *after a car with a mannequin resembling himself falls off a cliff* Well kids... Daddy's dead.
    "Can You Hear Me Now?" Guy: Let me guess... Faking your own death to get out of your Verizon contract?
    Boy: Isn't that illegal?
    Man: What are you, a cop?
  • The series of Sprint commercials where they honor customers' phone activity by having James Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowell read it out. Probably the best one is this one where they honor Lizzy and Kim's call. Just imagine: Darth Vader and Alex DeLarge gushing about how a singer is a 'total hotty mchotterson'.
  • How do Penn tennis balls compare with our nearest competitor?"
  • Denny's. Is it just me, or do you call EVERYONE "hon"?
  • The "Mayhem" Allstate commercials.
    • For example: In the raccoon one there's the line "I already had like four babies."
  • The reason Eminem doesn't do commercials.
  • The entire "Bacardi and Cola" series of commercials were amazingly well done, but arguably the best of the bunch was Pooling Around.
  • This My Scene ad:
    Libby: Did she change her outfit?
    Preppy Girl: She changed her head.
  • Yes, this really is a hilarious anti-drug commercial.
  • The original version of the Best Buy Super Bowl XLV ad.
    Ozzy Osbourne: What the fuck is a "bieber?"
    Stagehand (played by Justin Bieber himself): I dunno, but it kinda looks like Satan.
  • The French ads for Kiss Cool from the 90's, "the only candy with a double effect !". Especially with the bunny guy. Part 1 ; Part 2.
  • John Cleese tells us about the danger of subliminal messages. Schweppes.
  • This Verizon ad where a girl actually gets a pony for Christmas.
  • Toys "R" Us ran some impressively creative ads featuring a realistic CGI Geoffrey the Giraffe during 2004, including this ad for an easter sale they ran that year. These ads were at once memorable and easily funnier than you'd expect.
  • This ad for energy efficient boilers featuring a rather mouthy boiler. You know your boiler has gone bad in more ways than one when it derives amusement out of making hilarious jibes towards its owners.
  • The NASCAR on ESPN commercials are so hilarious:
    • This one for Carl Edwards with NASCAR on ESPN:
      Narrator: This season, nothing scares Carl Edwards more than losing: not a ten-car pileup on a fast track [clip of lap 188 crash in the 2012 Daytona 500], not trading paint with a car full of clowns [Edwards duels with a rusty old car packed with cackling clowns], not that furnace in his basement that sometimes looks like a face. Losing is even scarier than having to choose between starving and eating your best friend Bob. [Cuts to Edwards and Bob Osborne sitting in an icy cave]
      Bob Osborne: I don't feel like I've got much time left.
      Carl Edwards: Great.
      Narrator: There are only two things that scare Carl Edwards: losing and not winning.
    • Jimmie Johnson's is also good:
      Narrator: This season, Jimmie Johnson knows there's nothing more painful than losing: not running out of fuel on the last lap, not getting hit in the ear with a frisbee while jogging through the infield, not getting a papercut then making fresh-squeezed lemonade. Losing is even more painful than rescuing a baby porcupine from a thornbush [Jimmie pulls a prickly porcupine from the roadside], raising it as your own, then releasing it back into the wild.
      Jimmie Johnson: [sniffling] Goodbye, Pricklebear.
      Narrator: Jimmie Johnson knows that if losing didn't hurt, winning wouldn't feel so good.
  • Dale Earnhardt, Jr. trades his racecar for the last Diet Mountain Dew on a convenience store shelf
  • "Try it! You'll like it!" (cheerfully) "So I tried it, ate all of it" (frowns) "thought I was going to die!"
  • "If ever you're not satisfied with one of our tires, please feel free to bring it back." (CRASH) "Thank you. Discount Tire Company."
  • In a TV ad for IBM, Avery Brooks says, "It's the year 2000, but where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars!" What sells it is that he's practically channeling Sisko at the time, given his stentorian delivery. Of course, he points out that we don't need flying cars; we have something better: The Internet!
  • Chuck E. Cheese's provides us the Boring Pizza Place advertisement.
  • "JE VEUX LES BONBONS!" The kid's dad can only watch ineffectually as he throws a massive tantrum, complete with lying on the ground and kicking his legs, sweeping the contents of displays onto the floor, etc. The product being advertised? Zazoo condoms.
  • From Kraft Singles, we bring you "Principal Wilson's Meltdown". The full commercial is just as funny. It tells us why Principal Wilson is angry: a car parked in his reserved parking space. The rants become even funnier.note 
  • A Sprite advert featuring kids running away from a scary mascot for a Brand X citrus juice. Probably one of the only commercials where a mascot coming to life isn't treated as a normal thing, and it's all the better for it.
  • This commercial which debuted alongside the London 2012 Olympic Games: Be Free, Live, Run into....the Top Ten Appliance Brands, ONLY at Sears.
    • There is also another Top Ten Appliance Brand commercial that is a parody of a stale holiday rom-com movie trailer and all the typical Glurge that accompanies it. You might even get fooled into thinking it was the real thing if you aren't paying attention until the hunky lead slams face-first into a refrigerator, followed swiftly by an epic pratfall from his "love interest". "You won't run into these deals just anywhere", indeed.
  • Ragu's "Hard Day Of Childhood" commercials are hysterical. The "participation trophy" one has flawless delivery. The kids really do deserve some delicious spaghetti!
  • Get Rid of Cable:
  • The Sega Dreamcast's "It's Thinking" ad campaign. Each commercial focuses around the video game characters living inside the console and what they do when you're not playing a game (or, in some cases, when you are). Some of the funniest are the Crazy Taxi ad, the ''NBA 2K ad, and the SegaNet ad.
    • Another funny one is the launch trailer. Sonic exclaims "We got 'er!" after a female thief gets captured and he ends up falling off his perch. A football player tries to catch him, only to get Distracted by the Sexy and Sonic hits the ground with a splat, losing rings in the process.
  • There's a series of Japanese commercials known as "Ueno Juri" about a woman getting her own type of house insurance by getting various types of help. One of them has her recruiting the Seven Legendary Kamen Riders: Ichigo, Nigo, V3, Riderman, X, Amazon and Stronger. After finding out what she's doing, Ichigo implores "But, we have to protect world peace!". The woman's reply? "Ichigo, you get to protect the bathroom." Ichigo and Amazon's reaction sells it.
  • A&W Root Beer show the perils of not reading up on the company for which you're interviewing before the interview. After the none-too-bright interviewee enthuses over how much he could bring to "Dumbass and Dumbass", the unamused interviewer says, "The name is Du-mahss." As the interviewee leaves, Mr. Dumass mutters, "What a dumbass!"
  • "More than two-hundred animators and programmers! A multi-million dollar production! Over two years in the making! and a cast of thousands! They said it couldn't be done in a major motion picture! They... were right.
  • This Oreo commercial. The kicker is that they're yelling AND whispering at the same time!
  • The Snickers "You're not you when you're hungry" ads, namely one where a football coach turns into Robin Williams as a pastiche of his many roles.
  • This Grey Poupon ad, in which the man who borrows the Grey Poupon drives off, leading to the classiest car chase ever.
  • This ad for Kmart.
    Woman: I just shipped my pants!
  • Motel 6's ad which references the lights going out at the Super Bowl and ties it into the chain's "We'll leave the light on for you" slogan.
  • Zachary Quinto challenges Leonard Nimoy to a race and the loser buys lunch. Awesome, and then crosses into downright hysterical when Leonard starts singing "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins." He also wins the challenge by nerve-pinching Zachary.
  • The AT&T "Its Not Complicated" ads featuring a focus group of kindergarteners are perfect to anyone who's ever had a conversation with a child that age... though thanks to the only adult's deadpan responses, they're pretty hilarious even if you haven't. They also managed a Heartwarming Moment with their Mother's Day ad. It may not surprise you to learn that they're directed by Jorma Taccone, although they are, in fact, unscripted. This one for example:
    Suit Man: What's the highest number you can think of?
    Little Girl: A hundred trillion zillion!
    Suit Man: That's pretty big! What about you?
    Little Boy: Ten.
  • Frank's RedHot: "I put that *bleep* on everything."
  • Meet the Parents was such a big hit that Universal ran a print ad encouraging repeat business, with a photo of Ben Stiller's character miming milking a cat. The tagline: "Milk it for all it's worth!"
  • A man gets into a fight with a bear over salmon in this John West ad.
  • This commercial with the somewhat creepy doll. The narrator laughing at the end is what sells the humor.
  • The French gambling company PMU's take on dark humor (warning: some of you might find them offensive)
  • UK optometrist chain Specsavers have produced some truly hilarious adverts for their "Should Have Gone To Specsavers" campaign.
    • What can counter the Lynx/Axe Effect of hundreds of women being drawn in by the smell of body spray on an average-looking man? The "Should have gone to Specsavers" Effect.
    • When Postman Pat accidentally sits on his only pair of glasses but decides that it can't stop him from making his rounds, chaos comes to Greendale as he drives straight through various gardens and fields and picks up a sack of vegetables instead of the mail (and still doesn't notice when he "posts" an assortment of carrots, leeks, and marrows through Reverend Timms' letterbox). Bonus points for using the same stop motion style as the original Postman Pat series from 1981.
    • What can make Mr. Happy into a miserable sociopath? Missing out on a wide array of free offers from Specsavers when he bought his new glasses. Such is his anger that he mashes a cake into Mr. Greedy's face, kicks a dustbin over Mr. Messy's head, ties up Mr. Tickle with his own arms, and unravels Mr. Bump's bandages. Again, bonus points for using the same animation style as the 1975-78 Mr. Men cartoons, complete with an Arthur Lowe-like narrator and the original series' incidental music.
      Narrator: Looks like someone should have gone to Specsavers. [Mr Happy blows a loud raspberry] Charming...
    • A museum guard turns out the lights. Feel free to imagine what exactly he did to the statue... the nearby statue Facepalming should clue you in, though.
    • "Dad? The car's broken!" Yes, it is, but not the boy's remote control car, and Dad probably won't be happy to see what his son has unwittingly done to the bonnet of his car with the garage door control...note 
  • This Pepsi Next commercial doing things that regular babies can't possible do in real life to get attention.
  • This commercial shows that State Farm is not above lowering itself to using puns to get their point across.
  • BIG BILL HELL'S! Profanity warning, but absolutely hilarious.
  • VH1 Classic has been airing (and airing, and airing) a set of promos lately titled Metal Headzzz. Three dudes talk about their future success in a metal band. One short involves them discussing album covers; at one point, one of them suggests "Bag of Blood." Gilligan Cut to a record literally in a bag of blood. Another proposal is so disgusting that they have to bleep most of it and then blur the majority of the album cover... and this comes after "Bag of Blood" is discussed in an adult theater (with one of the guys masturbating in the background- if you look close enough, his arm is slowly moving up and down). Of course, this incredibly gory cover was proposed in front of an ice cream truck with a herd of children present...
    • Another one involves band names. They start with "Dracula," which is almost cliche. Then the drummer points out that "[their] logo needs big boobies... like, bigguns." Cut- now the band is called Count Draculust. Then the singer mentions spiders. In the end? The band is called Count Draculantulust, and their logo is a demonic skull with massive tits and spider legs. It's actually pretty badass.
  • RadioShack shows that they can poke fun at themselves when the 80's invade and take the store back.
  • A Crosses the Line Twice moment that was purely unintentional, a billboard for a local news team accidentally made it appear as though the newscasters had committed a gang-rape.
  • A Comedy Central commercial for South Park from early 1998 that parodies the reactions of Moral Guardians during the show's early days. Here, two members of the "Anti-South Park League" (played by Trey Parker and Matt Stone themselves) claim that the show promotes Satanism through subliminal messages, and prove it by playing a clip of Kenny saying something, muffled as usual, then playing it backwards, hearing a clear and deep voice saying "I am Satan! Love me!"
  • Have you got the Pot Noodle horn? This man has. It's big, it's brassy, and he's going to blow it.
  • The hilariously hammy acting in this Money Shop advert. It isn't supposed to be funny, but the sheer silliness of it makes it impossible to take seriously.
  • The Real Cost: Bully is rather amusing, especially due to the fact the cigarette guy looks like a fat Andrew W.K..
  • Ghent is going to have its own domain extension. Of course someone is going to want to buy it, this time by someone who does not even have internet.
  • This UK advert for Heineken beer, in which a man in a restaurant attempts to overcome the problem of sending a lobster to its death.
    "Now, simply imagine the lobster has done you a terrible wrong..."
  • So, how does the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs tell the British public not to bring back foods from abroad? Simple - through the medium of song! And Muppet-style puppets! This is what it looks like.
  • It's January 2015, and the McRib is back at McDonald's! Meanwhile, Public Health England launches its new Body Horror-tastic anti-smoking campaign. Due to this unfortunate timing, this happens.
  • Mercedes-Benz's idea for showing off their new suspension system? Dancing chickens. To which their competitor Jaguar responded.
  • The moonwalking Shetland pony and the bonus Christmas edition.
  • Shaving razor company Schick did a collaboration in Japan with Rebuild of Evangelion to give us "Shave Impact".
  • This 7-Eleven ad: Buy fresh bread or you'll knock out ducks.
  • Irn-Bru are famous for having hilarious ads with their own brand of cheeky, sometimes risque humour. Their latest ad campaign feature people coping with uncomfortable situations by drinking Irn-Bru. For example:
  • The "Could've Had a V8" commercials with the dope slaps, especially the one where a baby does this to her mother after she teases that she has a French fry. The baby's reaction after the Dope Slap is especially hilarious.
  • This one promoting the Chrysler Concorde was banned from airing on tv. It was still funny.
  • This (in)famous commercial for Quizno's, using not-so-subtle subtext to advertise suggestively shaped sandwiches.
  • The DQ Flamebroiler commercial proves that eating this burger in an office is a bad idea.
  • This binge-drinking PIF depicts a boy starting off his night by making himself look like the aftermath of such a night.
  • This commercial for Amazon Prime featuring the most pissed off small dog in the world.
  • A vintage Pepsi commercial advertising Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
    Alien: (tearfully) I love you, mom! (seductively) I love you, Padme. OH NO, DARTH MAUL! My brains are spilling out! (guzzles Pepsi) Oh joy! The end.
    Teenage girl: (deadpan) This is the weirdest date I've ever been on.
  • This Canadian Hyundai commercial, manages to be much better than other Canadian commercials, especially the American's comment said in the most Nixon-sounding way possible.
    American: This isn't just unfair, this is unamerican!
  • "BRING ON THE TRUMPETS!"
  • One of the slogans for the Sega Genesis's U.S. advertising campaign: "Genesis does what Nintendon't."
  • Juicy Fruit has made some funny commercials over the years:
  • A Verizon Wireless commercial from the 2009 holiday season features a smartphone on The Island of Misfit Toys. When the resident toys the phone why it's on the island, it reveals that it has AT&T 3G coverage.
    Toy Plane: You're gonna fit right in here.
  • A Snickers commercial from the 2000 election season had an elephant and donkey trying to convince a voter to vote for their respective candidates:
    Elephant: My dad and I wear the same pants.
    Donkey: I invented pants.
  • The commercials for Mario Superstar Baseball:
    • Mario is playing the piano above the stadium, then gets hit in the head by a foul ball.
    • Bowser gets hit with a ball, tries to run, and knocks over the pitching machine. Then it shoots more balls at him, knocking him down.
    • Peach hits a ball out of the stadium that accidentally destroys a car in the parking lot, then she gives a "well, shoot" look. Then it turns out the car was Luigi's, and he locks the door on what remains of it.
  • This Arby's commercial, which has voiceover artist Ving Rhames doing a slightly altered version of the theme to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
    I got in one little fight and my mom got scared and said...
    Arby's. We have the meats!
  • Skeletor, you're so MoneySupermarket!
  • The classic Crash Bandicoot commercials from The '90s, featuring a guy in a Crash Bandicoot costume with a hole in the teeth plainly showing his face.
  • From the late 90s, a set of Heineken adverts aired in the UK to try to boost sales, the first one starring magician Paul Daniels and his wife, singing and playing along to the song "Close to You". The advert ends with the message "Buy a pint of Heineken, or we'll keep running this commercial." The follow-up starts with a message saying that people didn't take it seriously, and it adds more celebrities to it, once again telling people to buy Heineken or they'll keep playing it. The third commercial says that sales of Heineken have risen dramatically - but not dramatically enough, adding in even more celebrities ( including Jimmy Savile). In the final advert, it proudly announces that sales of Heineken have risen to a more than acceptable level, and, as a treat to the viewers, a pride of lions is unleashed upon the group of celebs. The whole commercial can be found here.
  • This promo for Teletoon's Superfan Movies block. "MUT-ANT! REP-TILES!"
  • Most Progressive commercials are this, even their "Progressive can't save you from becoming your parents", whose tone and mood are completely different stories.
  • This Doritos/Mountain Dew commercial revolving around Peter Dinklage against Morgan Freeman during a rap battle.
  • "Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you crazy. It has no feelings, and the new one is much better."
  • This PSA in the style of a Canadian "Hinterland Who's Who" short...about the "North American House Hippo".
  • An advert for The Guardian's sports supplement (possibly NSFW) featured a calf asking his mother what will happen to him when he "go[es] to the golden pasture in the sky". After being told where his shoulders, ribs, tongue and legs will go, he asks, "But Mama, what about my testicles?" Cut to a pie being served and eaten at a football match. Why is this darkly hilarious and not just sick? Because up until, er, that bit, it's presented in cute Disney-esque animation.
  • This Ruby Tuesday commercial featuring triplets. The funniest moment is:
    Triplets 1 and 3: Key lime!
    Triplet 2: Chocolate!
  • Domino's:
    Supervisor: Talkin' free pizza, people! Can I get a "hoo-ha two times Tuesday"?
    Customer: (hesitantly) ...Hoo ha?
    Supervisor: Thank you! That's what I'm talkin' about!
  • A Halloween commercial for Crest has kids try healthy alternatives for candy and filmed their reactions. To say the kids didn't like them would be a gross understatement. The funniest part was easily one girl named Adrianna, who casually throws up, and acts like it's nothing.
  • This Dos Equis "Keep It Interesante" commercial has a football coach spark "the greatest comeback in history" just by giving his team a Dramatic Reading of the beer's label.
  • The Schick Intuition commercial from 2003 is full of this.
    • One woman shakes her shaving cream can to lather her legs... only for it to backfire and spray her in the face. The can then proceeds to spray all over her body.
    • One woman is sitting in her bathtub, trying to lather her legs with her bar of soap. But it slips out of her hands, forcing her to try to reach for it. Her grunting as she tries to reach for it are priceless.
    • One woman has her bare foot balanced on her bathroom sink, as she tries to shave her legs there while talking on the phone. This ends up being a bad idea, as she begins to wobble, trying to franticly keep her balance. What really sells it is her hilarious Oh, Crap! face and her putting the razor in her mouth as she desperately reaches for the sink to save herself. Only for her foot to slip off the sink, causing the poor woman to crash to the floor.
  • In the utterly butterly UK ad, a woman is talking to a customer on the phone. she notices a cheese-covered biscuit and takes it from her co-worker's desk. When she tries to reach for another one, she ends up falling off her chair and hits the floor. What makes this funnier is that after the woman falls to the floor, one guy in his office turns his head to see her on the floor before turning his head back to his paperwork.
  • A commercial for Little Caesars' thin crust pizza initially advertises it as no crust pizza. Cut to an employee with a pizza box that just has cheese, sauce, and pepperoni stuck to the bottom who says that they need a crust.
  • Liberty Mutual ran two commercials in 2019 where a woman consults Zoltar, an arcade fortune telling machine, for insurance advice. After the machine delivers its spiel, one of two things happens:
    • In one:
      Woman: I wish I could shake your hand.
      Zoltar: Granted.
      Puts his hand through the glass and shakes her hand.
    • The other:
      Woman: How can I thank you?
      Zoltar: Perhaps you could free Zoltar?
      The woman presses a button marked "Free Zoltar". The machine falls open and Zoltar rides away on a unicycle.
      Zoltar: Thanks, lady. Taxi!
  • The Pedialyte commercial where a man drinks a bottle of the stuff late at night, followed by his daughter coming out and whining that it was hers. He offers to make it up for her by buying her a pony, leaving her visibly exasperated.
  • A December 2020 advertisement campaign for Match.com showed Satan having the date of his dreams...with a personification of the year 2020. Cue the two of them happily indulging in the misery 2020 caused, set to the tune of "Love Story."
  • In the 1980s, Planters shot a series of three adverts for their pretzels with John Cleese for Australian television. All three adverts are knowingly - and hilariously - bad.
    • The first advert doesn't have much substance to it:
      John: [walks in front of a blank background, then turns to face away from the camera; after a moment, he realises his mistake and turns around] Ah, hello. Buy Planters Pretzels, they're... jolly good. [holds up a bag in each hand and shakes them while grinning, then lowers them again] Thank you. [walks off; after a Beat, he is shoved back in front of the camera from off screen, shooting a glare at the crew member resposible] Well, there appear to be a few seconds left, [checks his watch] so I'll just say that again, buy Planters Pretzels, they're... jolly good. [holds the bags up and shakes them while grinning, then lowers them again] [Beat] Sorry this isn't a better commercial.
      Director: [off screen] Hold 'em up! [John holds the bags up and shakes them while grinning for a third time]
    • The second advert tries - and fails - to make up for the poor quality of the first:
      John: [stands in front of the camera; after a second, someone reaches in from off screen and taps his shoulder; he holds up the same bags as in the first advert] Hello! Ah... Planters, the pretzel people, have asked me to apologise for the last commercial that I made for them for their pretzels. [hastily] I mean, I'm apologising for the commercial, and not for the pretzels, which are absolutely jolly good, [looks off screen] are they?
      Technical crew: [off screen] Yes!
      John: See? So, the Planters people have written the commercial this time themselves, and here it is. [holds both bags in one hand and reaches into his jacket pocket, but there's no script; he gives the camera a worried look] Hang on! [dashes off screen, then back again, holding the new script] Here it is! [glances at the script, then lowers it and holds the bags up to camera] The great thing about Planters Pretzels is that- [Smash Cut to black]
    • So they go for broke with the third advert:
      John: [holding the same bags as in the first two adverts as a crew member hurriedly ducks out of shot] Hello! Third time lucky. Well, we hope so, anyway, because Planters, [points to bags] the pretzel people, have threatened to dissociate themselves from these commercials unless there's a dramatic improvement. So! I've written just the sort of commercial I'm pretty sure Planters, [points to bags again] the pretzel people, will really go for, and here it is, take it away, girls! [points to the bags rhythmically as a group of chorus girls dance past the camera behind him] Planters Pretzels, Planters Pretzels, Planters Pretzels, Planters Pretzels, Planters Pretzels, Planters Pretzels, Planters Pretzels, Planters Pretzels! [looks toward where the dancing girls have just exited] Amazing, isn't it. Simplest ideas are nearly always the best. [grins proudly]
  • This Philippine commercial for a virgin coconut oil-based hot oil and shampoo shows several models parading their beautiful hair, revealing their faces one by one... until the last one is revealed to be a guy.
  • The two 2021 Tostitos campaigns featuring Dan Levy and Kate McKinnon:
    • The first one, "Not a Word", has Dan and Kate at a party, where a fellow partygoer accidentally spills some salsa on his shirt and doesn't notice. Cue an intense unspoken argument between Dan and Kate conveyed entirely through facial expressions (and their inner thoughts for the audience's convenience) over who should tell him. Before they can finish arguing, the partygoer tells Kate that she has some lipstick on her teeth and leaves, which she rather hypocritically thinks is rude.
    • The second one, "One Upper", features Dan and Kate eating some Habanero chips. They get into a contest over who can have the most over-the-top description over how spicy they are, attempting to one-up the other. This includes Dan showing off a flame-pattern tattoo (which he claims he got the day before) and Kate launching into some dramatic theatrics ("VICTOR! I'M LEAVING!"). Then Dan does the splits, and Kate declares him as the winner. To top it off, Dan asks Kate if she can help him get back up.
  • The 2021 Chase holiday commercial, where Catherine O'Hara reprises her role as Kate McCallister, freaking out in a department store that she lost Kevin again. Turns out, she's talking about Kevin Hart, who shows up and chastises her for losing another Kevin.
    Catherine: It's a holiday tradition!
  • The commercial for Vault soda where a farmer named Brian is motivated to upgrade his scarecrow into something more effective at getting rid of crows. First, he outfits it with a flamethrower, then he upgrades it into a robot with lasers and missiles as the narrator suggests that he also use it to ward off gophers, foxes, rabbits, and hippies.
  • A commercial for Hallmark Greeting Cards had a girl hired to be a babysitter come over to the house and bid the parents goodbye. While she's looking around the house, she finds a card addressed to her which compliments her on her helpfulness. Most people who receive such a card would probably start muttering quiet thank yous or tear up a little. Her response? She calls up her friends and tells them they're not throwing a party at the house. (Adding to the hilarity, one of the friends is called "The Pig".)
  • In late 2022, Chevrolet began running an ad showcasing their then current and upcoming line of EVs. This includes a Silverado EV whose driver and passengers look like the typical guys you'd see in a pickup truck commercial. Most of the commercial shows the drivers singing along to Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere". This includes the Silverado driver whose front seat passenger responds with a concerned "Dude."
  • This Thai insecticide commercial by Chaindrite sees a man in a termite costume eating wood. A married couple catches him and sprays Chaindrite insecticide, but the termite claimed that the insecticide does not work on him and walks away to his hive. Then, at the hive, the termite tells his buddies that he survived an insecticide attack, only to collapse dying. Soon as the other termites touch him, his last words are "don't touch me", while the other termites realized they touched him already. Cue to the termites falling to their deaths.
  • During the 1980s, Ontario Hydro produced a series of ads featuring an anthropomorphic furnace voiced by Larry D. Mann (AKA Yukon Cornelius). For those who aren't creeped out by the puppetry, they're absolutely hilarious, particularly the ones involving the furnace arguing with homeowners over rising oil bills.
  • Many of the "Mountain of Entertainment" ads for Paramount+ are good for a laugh due to the juxtaposition of the different characters and TV personalities and how they bounce off of each other, but the campaign's crowning achievement arguably has to be their spot for Super Bowl LVIII, which features the unfathomably absurd and hilarious sight of Sir Patrick Stewart, wearing an old-timey football uniform and with all the conviction one would expect from such a legendary actor, pitching the football-headed Arnold like an actual football toward the top of a cliffside, all to the tune of Creed's "Higher" (being performed by the band itself to boot). Words cannot do it justice.

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