Every “best beer ad” list online is really the same eight ads reshuffled. We went back to the original coverage (Ad Age, Adweek, Cannes Lions and D&AD award records, the trade press from when each ad actually aired) to build a full list with the real dates, agencies and reception, not just a vibe. This covers the commercials, not the beer models used to sell them, we split that into its own piece: Beer Models: the rise and fall of the beer girl in advertising.
The full ranked list
Black-and-white surfers ride waves that morph into charging white horses, set to a cover of “Sail Away,” building to the line “Good things come to those who wait.” It regularly tops “best ad ever” polls, including a 2002 Channel 4/Sunday Times readers’ poll, and is widely cited by the advertising industry itself as one of the greatest TV commercials ever made.
A group of friends greet each other on the phone with an elongated “Whaaassup?” It debuted during Monday Night Football on December 20, 1999, ran through the 2000 Super Bowl, and became an inescapable catchphrase within weeks. The campaign won the Cannes Grand Prix and Grand Clio, and was inducted into the Clio Hall of Fame in 2006.
Three bullfrogs croaking “Bud… Weis… Er…” in a swamp, one syllable each. It debuted during Super Bowl XXIX and spawned a run of sequel ads (including the rival lizards, Frank and Louie) that carried the frogs through several more Super Bowl broadcasts.
The Clydesdale hitch itself dates back to 1933, when it was gifted to August Busch Sr. to celebrate the end of Prohibition, but the horses did not headline a Super Bowl commercial until Super Bowl XX in January 1986. The emotional, dialogue-free format (most famously the 2013 “Brotherhood” ad about a horse and its trainer) became one of the most consistent Super Bowl fixtures in advertising.
Retired athletes and cultural figures (Rodney Dangerfield, Bubba Smith, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Mickey Spillane) argued over whether Miller Lite’s selling point was its taste or its lower calorie count. It ran for 17 years, helped invent “light beer” as a category men would order without embarrassment, and is regularly named one of the most effective beer campaigns of all time by advertising executives, including rivals at Anheuser-Busch.
A long-running series of surreal, punchline-driven ads (the best-known, “Dambusters,” parodies the 1955 war film) built around men getting into absurd situations and someone delivering the tagline. During its run, Carling’s sales grew 48% while the wider lager market stayed flat, and “Dambusters” was later ranked #12 on ITV’s “Best Ever Ads” and #17 on Channel 4’s “100 Greatest TV Ads.”
A mock-heroic radio campaign saluting ordinary people for mundane “achievements” (Mr. Ceiling Fan Pull-Chain Extension Installer, etc.), sung over a marching-band-style backing track. It launched in 1998 as “Real American Heroes,” was briefly paused and renamed after the September 11 attacks out of respect for the national mood, ran for nearly a decade, spawned a UK Budweiser TV adaptation, and won Cannes’ first-ever Radio Grand Prix in 2005.
Pairs of strangers with opposing views on feminism, climate change and gender identity are filmed building a bar together before learning about each other’s beliefs, then choosing whether to stay for a beer and talk it out. It won multiple Cannes Lions, reached over 50 million views, and was widely covered as a pointed contrast to a much-criticized Pepsi ad released around the same time.
A self-aware campaign that mocked beer advertising cliches outright, including a sequel, “If We Made It,” where Newcastle admitted it could not afford a Super Bowl spot and built an entire campaign around the ad it “would have” made instead. Both won D&AD and One Show awards for turning a near-zero media budget into outsized attention.
No verified official upload of the original ‘No Bollocks’ spot survives on YouTube; see the Droga5/AdsSpot case study instead.
A mock-medieval kingdom toasts Bud Light drinkers with the nonsense phrase “Dilly Dilly” (and banishes anyone who brings a rival drink to the “Pit of Misery”). It launched in August 2017 with the “Banquet” spot, turned into a genuine meme adopted across sports culture within months, ran a three-part Super Bowl LII trilogy, and won a Cannes Lions Silver for Social & Influencer work.
Timed to the reopening of UK pubs after COVID lockdowns, ordinary black-and-white objects (a sleeping cat on a bin, socks on a washing line) build to the reveal of a pint of Guinness, closing on the brand’s long-standing line “Good things come to those who wait.” It was voted the best new TV ad of its debut period by UK ad-industry peers at Thinkbox.
No verified official upload of ‘Welcome Back’ survives on YouTube; see the AMV BBDO case study instead.
George the Bear, a yellow-jacketed, pork-pie-hat-wearing cartoon bear, fronted Hofmeister Lager’s UK campaign through the 1980s. The brand itself was pulled from the market in 2003, but George was fondly remembered enough that Hofmeister brought him out of “hibernation” for a nostalgia-driven relaunch attempt in 2016.
Sources: The Drum, Ad Age, Adweek, Campaign, IPA case studies, D&AD/One Club award archives, NYT, Wikipedia campaign histories, Thinkbox.
Honorable mentions
Bud Light’s “party animal” bull terrier mascot became a merchandising phenomenon before being pulled from advertising after 1987 following criticism it was being marketed in a way that appealed to underage drinkers.
Less a single ad than one of the longest-lived slogans in beer advertising, revived in various forms for over five decades, with Carlsberg’s more recent Irish work under the line “Carlsberg don’t do [X], but if they did…” still cited as some of the best local beer advertising ever produced.
What makes a beer commercial actually work
Looking at the list above, the ones that lasted share a few things: they lean on humor or emotion instead of the product’s features (nobody remembers what Whassup? or Dilly Dilly actually said about the beer itself), they commit to a single running idea for years instead of a new concept every quarter, and the strongest ones (Surfer, Clydesdales, Welcome Back) barely mention the brand’s attributes at all, they sell a feeling and let the beer ride along with it. It’s also notable that none of the longest-lasting campaigns on this list depend on a human “model” front and center, they run on an idea, a mascot, or a moment instead.
FAQ
Guinness’s “Surfer” (1999) is the most consistent answer across industry polls, including a 2002 Channel 4/Sunday Times readers’ poll, and is frequently cited by advertising professionals as one of the best TV commercials ever made in any category, not just beer.
It debuted during Monday Night Football in December 1999 and became a genuine catchphrase within weeks, something that rarely happens with beer ads. It won the Cannes Grand Prix, the Grand Clio, and was inducted into the Clio Hall of Fame in 2006.
From 1974 to 1991, 17 years, using a rotating cast of retired athletes and cultural figures. It is credited with making light beer socially acceptable for male drinkers, a real shift in the market.
Not in their original form, though Carlsberg’s “Probably the best beer in the world” tagline (since 1973) has been revived multiple times, most recently in 2015 and again in later brand refreshes, making it one of the longest-lived slogans in beer advertising.
Bud Light’s bull terrier mascot was pulled from advertising after 1987 following criticism that a party-animal dog character was being marketed in a way that appealed to underage drinkers.
