Featuring: Michael J Fox.
Game: Super Bowl XXI.
Celebrity Paycheck: $1 million.
Total Price Tag: $3.6 million.
Coming in at number three on ESPN’s list of the best Super Bowl commercials of all time, the hilarious “Apartment 10g” ad features eighties star Michael J. Fox. A beautiful woman moves in across from Fox, who then asks him for a Diet Pepsi.
Pepsi has had plenty of ads, but this one got people laughing – one of the best ways to create a good memory. The advertisement was recreated in the finale to “Spin City”, and Fox reportedly donated the money he got from the ad to Parkinson’s disease research.
Stella Artois: “Change Up The Usual” (2019)
Featuring: Jeff Bridges and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Game: Super Bowl LI.
Celebrity Paycheck: $2 million.
Total Price Tag: $8 million.
Brewing companies always make sure to get in their time during the big game, and in 2019 Stella Artois did something unexpected. Not only did they bring in Sarah Jessica Parker, famous for her role in "Sex in the City", but they also nabbed famous movie star Jeff Bridges, wearing his legendary outfit from "The Big Lebowski".
Instead of ordering their usual drinks – a white Russian for Bridges and a something-or-other for Parker – the two decide on a Stella Artois. The ad shot stock prices through the roof.
Kia: “The Matrix” (2014)
Featuring: Laurence Fishburne.
Game: Super Bowl XLVIII.
Celebrity Paycheck: $4 million.
Total Price Tag: $8 million.
Appearing as the legendary Morpheus from "The Matrix" series of movies, Laurence Fishburne shows up in a Kia ad, promoting the K900. He serenades the car's other occupants, and this unexpected performance became one of the most-watched super bowl ads ever – more than a hundred and twelve million people caught it.
Not including Fishburne's salary, this simple ad cost more than four million dollars to film. It ended up being the second-most watched super bowl ad at the time.
M&M: “Do You Wanna Eat Me?” (2019)
Featuring: Danny DeVito.
Game: Super Bowl LIII.
Celebrity Paycheck: $2.7 million.
Total Price Tag: $7.7 million.
Another way to spark memory creation is disgust, and that seems to be DeVito's forte. Though a brilliant actor, he's found his niche in gross displays such as this M&Ms ad, which has him dressing up as a human M&M.
The short spot exists somewhere between funny and creepy. Though the ad was certainly memorable, the game itself wasn't, meaning a lot of people missed out on DeVito earning one of the weirdest paychecks in this veteran actor's history.
Nike: “Hare Jordan” (1992)
Featuring: Michael Jordan.
Game: Super Bowl XXVI.
Celebrity Paycheck: $1 million.
Total Price Tag: $1 million.
MJ is back, and this time it's in the ad that inspired an entire movie. Hare Jordan is a play on one of Nike's most popular shoe styles, and the ad features the classic animated character Bugs Bunny and Jordan having some fun on the court.
The ad created a huge boost for the Air Jordan VII sneaker and was also somewhat of a turning point for animation. The ad would get a reprise in 2015 for another version of the Air Jordan.