One sip and Joe Greene isn’t mean

By Chris Sweigart

Published: July 27, 2007

I love Coca-Cola. Always did. It’s the Real Thing. But almost as much as I love Coca-Cola, I loved its commercials. Below are my five-favorite commercials of all-time, two of which are from the Coca-Cola Company:

1. Mean Joe Greene: Who doesn’t love seeing a tough guy toss his jersey to a little kid after a big football game? Before the Coke, Mean Joe was just plain mean. A few sips later, he’s a teddy bear.

2. Bud-wei-ser: The King of Beers always comes up with the most creative commercials. Using animated frogs to send this subliminal message from the swamp didn’t make me want a tall cold one, but it was funny.

3. Where’s the beef?: This ad campaign was so strong with the woman’s question, I can’t remember what fast food chain it was. Oh yeah, Wendy’s.

4. Teach the world to sing: Oh yeah, millions of people joined hands across the globe, put flowers in their hair and sang in perfect harmony. Ahh, Coca-Cola will do that for you. Maybe the folks in North Korea and Iran need the Real Thing, then we can all get along.

5. Nothing but net: If I placed a bet on a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, there’s no way I’d miss a basket. Off the satellite dish, off the moving van, off a passing helicopter, through the gym window, off the scoreboard, nothing but net. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird were that good.

Best of the rest: The Keep America Beautiful campaign with the native American who cries over pollution; anything from ESPN’s SportsCenter; and Dunkin Donuts’ “time to make the donuts.“

Next week: My five-favorite golf courses.