famous ’80s commericals

A collection of ’80s commercials to bring you down memory lane.

Here’s something you better know about me. I love ’80s TV. Well, I pretty much love all things ’80s. Candy buttons, leg warmers, jelly bracelets, Forenza sweaters and Esprit sweatshirts, Madonna gloves, my Cabbage Patch Kid, pudding pops and Pac-Man, Falcon Crest, Golden Girls, Dukes of Hazard, REM and Men at Work… I could go on forever. I was born in 1972, which means between 1980 and 1989 I was ages 8 to 17, arguably the most difficult ages any of us endure. So why do I love the decade that reminds me of some of my most awkward years? The reality of those years is not much like the idealized version I create in my head. I think it’s purely the power of nostalgia. Nostalgia lets us visit the years before we had grey hair, those wrinkles, adult stress, and a quickening march to getting that first AARP magazine in the mail. It lets us remember a time kids today never knew or could appreciate. It lets us laugh at our earlier selves.

These retro ’80s commercials let me do that whole idealized-past through nostalgia thing, and that’s fine by me. Want to come with me on the journey? Who else remembers these classics?

Oh wow. I remember this Jordache jeans commercial. I’m horrified watching it now.

I definitely remember making fun of the line, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”

Even if you were too young to remember the commercial, “Where’s the beef?” has lasted all these decades.

“Calgon! Take me away!” It’s not easy being a working mom in the ’80s.

OK, so this one might be from the late ’70s, but I knew this commercial well. Mikey likes it! (And never fear, folks, the Pop Rocks-Mikey-incident is a legend.)

Remember these “It does a body good?” milk commercials?

Yep. Every time I played Connect Four with my brother, one of us would say, “Pretty sneaky, sis.”

When two, random, dull-sounding men sell a LOT of wine coolers. You’re welcome for your support.

Just like pretty much all of the ’80s, this “My Buddy” jingle will be in my head for the next ten years.

Remember when Cherry Coke was a thing?

If you dare wear short shorts, you better use Nair. (By the way, don’t use Nair. It doesn’t work and it burns like heck.)

I so remember this on-the-cutting-edge-of-technology Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial.