Top 18+ Unintentionally Hilarious Ads from the Past

1. Pond’s “Your Best Weapon in Marriage”

Pond’s Cold Cream ran a rather unforgettable ad campaign suggesting that the secret to a successful marriage was simply keeping your skin in check. The tagline, “Keep that man of yours happy!” was aimed directly at women, urging them to use their beauty products to maintain their relationships. The implication? If your skin isn’t glowing, neither is your marriage.

In today’s world, this would be considered a wildly outdated and slightly offensive message. Yet, looking back, we can’t help but chuckle at the over-the-top stakes that beauty was once believed to hold in the game of love. How many marriages were saved, we wonder, by the simple application of Pond’s?

2. The Cigarette Doctor Recommends It!

This ad for Camel cigarettes boasted that “more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette,” with the thought being that if a doctor recommends it, it must be good for you. The absurdity of this claim is hard to ignore, especially in an era where we now know how harmful smoking is to our health.

Seeing a doctor with a cigarette in hand, in the midst of making life-saving decisions, is not just funny today—it’s downright shocking. Yet, for decades, ads like these used questionable endorsements to promote products, leaving us to laugh in disbelief at how far we’ve come in understanding the consequences of smoking.

3. 7-Up for Babies

In a time when advertising was often creative but sometimes outlandish, 7-Up ran an ad encouraging parents to give their babies a sip of the fizzy drink. This wasn’t just about quenching thirst—it was marketed as a “natural” and “refreshing” option for infants. Can you imagine offering your little one a sugary, carbonated drink today?

The idea that soda could be a healthy choice for a baby is almost laughable. But in the 1950s and ’60s, it wasn’t as unthinkable, and the ad generated quite a bit of buzz. Looking back, it’s a perfect example of the strange and misguided ways brands once marketed to unsuspecting parents.

4. Coca-Cola’s “Drink Coca-Cola, Be Happy”

Coca-Cola, in its eternal effort to position itself as a happiness maker, ran ads featuring the phrase “Drink Coca-Cola, Be Happy.” The ad was simple—just a joyful, smiling person holding a Coke—and the message was clear: Coke equals happiness.

While it’s funny in hindsight, as we now recognize the more serious implications of sugary drinks, the simplicity of this ad’s message and the way it was sold is undeniably amusing. Who knew that one sip could supposedly turn a bad day into a good one, right?

5. The Grape Nuts Cereal “Surprise!”

This 1950s ad for Grape Nuts cereal featured a baffling claim that the cereal could serve as a “surprise” to anyone. The ad showed a person eating a bowl of the crunchy cereal, only to discover an unexpected “sensation” that made them gasp with delight. What was the surprise, exactly? A good bowl of cereal?

The mystery of the “surprise” was never fully explained, and today we can’t help but laugh at the vague marketing that led consumers to think their cereal could be an exciting discovery. It’s a reminder of a time when ad campaigns often relied on unexplained mystery to pique curiosity—sometimes successfully, and sometimes hilariously poorly.

6. Tootsie Pop’s “How Many Licks?”

One of the most iconic yet unintentionally funny ads of the past, the Tootsie Pop commercial asked, “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” The ad featured an owl, who after three licks, bit into the candy. The message? Licking is useless; just bite it.

While the ad was meant to be fun and catchy, it left us laughing at the odd logic of the whole premise. After all, why even bother asking how many licks if we’re just going to bite into it anyway? This ad has since become a pop culture reference for all the wrong reasons.

7. The “Tired? Try a Cigarette” Campaign

In a bizarre ad from the ’50s, cigarettes were marketed as a quick fix for exhaustion. The tagline “Tired? Try a cigarette” suggested that lighting up would provide energy and relief. We can only imagine how many people lit up a cigarette hoping it would cure their fatigue, only to feel worse afterward.

The idea that cigarettes could be a solution to tiredness is now laughable, considering the overwhelming evidence of their harmful health effects. It’s a funny but eye-opening example of just how misguided advertising could be, pushing harmful products as solutions to common problems.

8. Ford’s “You’ll Love the Ride”

Ford once ran a quirky commercial for its new car models with the tagline, “You’ll love the ride!” The ad featured people grinning ear to ear as they drove around in their shiny new vehicles, but the tagline didn’t seem to align with the over-the-top, cheesy acting.

It’s almost hard to take the commercial seriously today, especially as Ford and other automakers now emphasize practical features and technology in their marketing. The exaggerated joy and lack of substance behind the phrase make it feel more like a nostalgic comedy sketch than a genuine car ad.

9. Miller Lite’s “It’s a Man’s Beer”

In a marketing era where gender roles were all too clearly defined, Miller Lite ran a series of ads that boldly declared, “It’s a man’s beer.” The ad’s heavy-handed message implied that women should avoid the beer, and it leaned into the stereotype that only men could enjoy a refreshing, “strong” beverage.

This type of marketing would be called out for being problematic today, but back then, it was part of the norm. While these ads tried to create a sense of masculinity around a simple beer choice, looking back, we can only laugh at how over-the-top and dated the message feels now.

10. Life Cereal’s “Give It to Mikey”

Life cereal’s ad featuring the famous line “Give it to Mikey, he’ll eat anything!” became a classic. The commercial featured a picky eater, Mikey, who would supposedly try anything, and the premise was that if Mikey liked it, anyone would. What’s funnier than watching a kid eat cereal while trying to prove a marketing theory?

The line itself became a part of pop culture, as we all knew that “Mikey” was a stand-in for the discerning kid who had the final say. While the ad was trying to highlight how great Life Cereal was, it ended up being remembered for its catchphrase instead—proof of how a simple line can become iconic in the most unexpected way.

11. Tab’s “It’s Diet, Not a Joke!”

Tab, the classic diet soda from the ’60s, ran an ad campaign trying to convince people that diet soda was a serious business. The ad featured an overly serious voiceover declaring, “It’s diet, not a joke!” To us, the campaign just feels like an over-the-top way to push a product that’s long been considered a relic.

It’s amusing to think that back then, there was a need to convince people that diet soda was actually a legitimate alternative to regular soda. Today, we can laugh at how dramatically it was marketed, especially when you consider how far diet sodas have come in the years since.

12. Bran Flakes’ “Get Your Fiber the Right Way”

A 1950s ad for Bran Flakes made a bold statement about fiber intake, declaring that the “right” way to get fiber was through their cereal. The commercial featured a doctor, recommending Bran Flakes as the best source of fiber for maintaining good health, as if there were no other options.

Today, the sheer enthusiasm for fiber from cereal is amusing, considering how many other options we have to improve our digestive health. The ad’s attempt to convince everyone that Bran Flakes were the solution to their fiber problems feels a little desperate and definitely outdated.

13. Alka-Seltzer’s “I Can’t Believe I Ate the Whole Thing”

The Alka-Seltzer commercial featuring the unforgettable line, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” became a classic. In the ad, a man overindulges at a meal and then regrets it, reaching for Alka-Seltzer to solve his discomfort. The tagline, paired with the guy’s groaning, has since become a go-to phrase when someone has overdone it.

While the ad’s humor was simple and effective, it’s also a great example of how marketing can make light of everyday situations, turning a small problem into something hilarious. Watching someone dramatically react to overeating is something most of us can relate to—just not as excessively as the commercial suggests!

14. “That’s Not a Knife, This is a Knife”

This iconic ad for a steak knife by Crocodile Dundee famously coined the phrase, “That’s not a knife, this is a knife.” While the ad was part of an attempt to sell the knife with humor, the over-the-top macho tone makes it feel like something from a parody rather than a real ad.

The whole campaign played off the action-movie persona of Paul Hogan’s Crocodile Dundee character, but today, it’s mostly remembered for its humorous exaggeration. The idea that a knife could be “a knife” because it was bigger than what’s typically used in a kitchen is just as funny now as it was then.

15. The “Perfect” Pancake

A pancake mix commercial once promised that their pancakes were so perfect that they would “flip themselves.” The notion that pancakes could be so flawless that they practically cooked themselves left us chuckling at the absurd simplicity of the concept.

The idea was a stretch even back in the day, and it’s certainly humorous now. Pancakes that cook themselves? Maybe we’ll believe it when we see it. Until then, we’ll just enjoy the laughter this wildly unrealistic promise still brings.

16. M&M’s “They Do Exist”

This M&M’s commercial was all about trying to convince people that their candy was irresistible by showing a giant M&M attempting to convince a stubborn friend that it really did “exist.” The ad leaned heavily on the idea that M&Ms were so delicious that people might think they were a figment of the imagination.

The absurdity of the whole scenario is what makes it funny, especially considering how much simpler the ad could have been. The over-the-top dialogue and dramatic flair make this ad one for the books when it comes to humorous advertising.

17. VW’s “Think Small”

Volkswagen’s “Think Small” campaign was as revolutionary as it was unintentional in its humor. It was a simple ad with a small image of their car and the tagline that urged potential buyers to embrace its compactness. But the simplicity made it funny—who would think of a car ad focusing on its size rather than its features?

While the campaign was groundbreaking for its minimalist approach, today it’s remembered as a quirky attempt to make small cars seem cool. Looking back, it’s clear that VW was ahead of its time—but also slightly ahead of what people were ready to embrace.

18. “The Great Taste of Milk”

A ’70s ad for milk claimed that “nothing’s better than the great taste of milk,” and featured a group of people enthusiastically declaring their love for the beverage. The over-the-top enthusiasm, paired with cheesy smiles, made the ad unintentionally funny, considering how dull milk really is to most people.

The whole campaign seemed to think milk was the most exciting thing on the planet, and we can’t help but laugh at how far the marketing went to sell something that’s pretty standard. Today, it’s a reminder of how advertising often tried to make the ordinary seem extraordinary.