7 Most Expensive TV Ads of All Time

Due to the fact that marketing is the most important aspect of any business, the fact that companies invest millions of dollars in it isn’t all the surprising. Understandably, the larger the company, the more money are prepared to put in advertising.

Nowadays, there are numerous channels that businesses use to promote their products and service. However, there has been one that is as significant as it used to be decades ago – TV ads. For many companies, this is the best way to reach new clients and advertise their latest work. Plus, every household possesses a TV set, either a cable or satellite TV. There are multiple companies like mikeharrisaerialandsatellite.co.uk that offer services of installing these, so you might want to consider switching to another service.

Since these are so important these days, in this article, we are going to discuss some of the most expensive ones. We are going to introduce you to ads that cost millions of dollars, so try not to be surprised by the numbers we are going to mention.

1. Kia – “The Truth”

Without a doubt, the best way to capture the viewers’ attention is to present them with their favorite celebrities. It only gets better if they reprise their roles from popular a movie franchise. This is something that managers of Kia understood very well, which is why they hired Laurence Fishburne to reprise his role of Morpheus from the world-wide popular movie “The Matrix”.

This ad aired during the 2014 Super Bowl. Between Fishburne’s fee, the right to use his character, and top-notch special effects that were used to design this commercial, the overall cost was 8 million dollars. If you were to ask us, we believe that this ad was worth every last penny.

2. Pepsi – “Joy of Pepsi”

One of the secrets of creating state-of-the-art ads that are going to be remembered for many years to come is to consider relevant topics and people of that time. Who was the most popular person in the early 2000s? Well, Britney Spears of course.

The princess of pop participated in the Pepsi commercial in 2001, and this was yet another ad that was released during the Super Bowl. It seemed that this ad was everywhere, and we mean literally everywhere, and people loved it. Not only was the music video for “Joy of Pepsi” constantly on TV, but there were billboards and other kinds of ads in every city in the world. Do you wonder what the cost of this phenomenon was? It was just a tad more expensive than the previous commercial – 8.1 million.

3. Carlton Draught – “Skytroop Show”

Most people are under the impression that most expensive ads are created in the US, but this is not true, and the best proof for this is a commercial called “Skytroop Show”. Even though this ad for Australian beer didn’t go around the world, it doesn’t mean that it didn’t require a large investment and that it wasn’t popular on this continent.

It includes skydivers who jump out of the beer can as a part of their stunt during a game at a stadium. However, this is when things take the turn for the worse as the can continues to fly away, wreaking havoc on neighboring buildings and causing a lot of panic on the way.

Taking into consideration the special effects and the fact that they had to hire an entire fleet of skydivers, the cost of 9 million dollars doesn’t seem so costly, right?

4. Chrysler – “Imported From Detroit”

Once again, we are going back to that trend of companies hiring celebrities to improve their marketing campaigns. Who is the most famous artist from Detroit? Well, Eminem of course. Although many people were suspicious, in the end, many agreed that Eminem was perfect for this campaign.

What do you think is the best way to attract new customers while, at the same time, presenting a new product to the existing ones? The answer is introducing them to your company’s past. The marketing team of Chrysler used this trick when promoting Chrysler 200. They created an ad to take their clients down the memory lane, introducing them to Detroit’s history. Due to the fact that creating an ad is not cheap, and that they also had to pay for Eminem’s fee, the overall cost of this commercial was 12 million dollars.

5. Aviva – “Names”

When a company makes big changes in their business, they also have to find the right way to notify all their clients. Let’s be honest, is there a better way than hiring Bruce Willis, Elle McPherson, Ringo, Starr, and Alice Cooper to appear in a commercial together? We don’t think so either.

This is exactly what happened when the insurance company Norwich Union became Aviva. They invested 13 million dollars is this commercial even though it didn’t seem so high-tech. After all, there were no extraordinary special effects, just these four celebrities talking to a camera. Okay, they were fitted in their movies or news pieces, but that is all.

6. Guinness – “Tipping Point”

On the contrary to popular belief, some commercials are filmed on location. This Guinness one was recorded in Iruya, a small village in Argentina. It depicts the dominoes effect, but it also uses numerous other items such as refrigerators, tires, furniture, and even cars, only to end up with a giant Guinness pint.

Just think about the effort and time that was invested in filming this since every shot had to be perfect. Plus, there are hundreds of items and also people involved in this commercial. The cost of this one was 16 million dollars, but everyone absolutely loved the idea since there is something satisfying in watching the dominoes effect.

7. Chanel – “The Film”

Can we get drum rolls please because we have reached to most expensive commercial in TV history? After all, you cannot get a commercial directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman without paying a lot of money, 33 million to be exact.

There is another interesting fact about this one. We have already mentioned numerous ads that were aired during Super Bowl which is actually the reason why they were so expensive. Nevertheless, this Chanel No. 5 wasn’t one of them. It premiered in movie theaters as one of the many commercials before the film called “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”.