15 Classic Fast Food Commercials We Don't Mind Watching Again And Again

If you ask people what they think of commercials in general, you'll likely hear that they're annoying, they interrupt shows, and that people wish there were fewer of them. After all, that's why people will pay for ad-free streaming services and apps. But let's be honest: Some of those ads are super creative and fun to watch. The more a company wants to stand out among its competitors, the more it's going to try and make its commercials really memorable.

Fast food commercials fall into this category. The competition is fierce, so companies know that the ads need to get your attention. And get it, they do. From nostalgic images to shots that linger on sizzling beef patties to some choices that are really kind of questionable when you think about them, many fast food commercials are like mini movies that you actually don't mind seeing on repeat. Whether it's because of the catchy music or because you can't believe what you just watched, here are 15 classic fast food commercials that you'll want to watch again.

Early versions of the Muppets have promoted everything from food brands to the Federal Housing Administration, and fans will no doubt have seen clips of the La Choy dragon or Rowlf hawking Purina Dog Chow. One of the earliest fast food ads the muppets starred in was for Tastee-Freez. This was originally a soft-serve ice cream chain, but it expanded its menu to include fast food in the early and mid-1960s.

In 1967, an ad agency asked Jim Henson to create a spot for the chain's new sundae. Henson came up with two versions of one ad; the main version was 60 seconds long, and the other was a 10-second edit. The 60-second version has apparently disappeared, but the 10-second version starts with "Boss" speaking about the sundae, only for employee "Homer" to grab it and gobble it all down, including the cup. It's short and cute, and it's nice to hear a very Kermit-like voice coming from the Boss.

Sometimes ad campaigns take an unexpected path, and sometimes these unconventional choices pay off. That was the case with a series of commercials for Long John Silver's that starred Pepe the King Prawn from the Muppets. It's not unusual to see ads in which a chain has a mascot that's based on the food it sells. But what made Pepe's turn so interesting was his sheer dedication to landing this gig and succeeding in it. Pepe seemed a little too enthusiastic about selling fried versions of his sea-dwelling neighbors.

The company released several commercials with Pepe, including behind-the-scenes videos. In the series, Pepe decides that the company needs a "spokes-shrimp" and somehow manages to land a job working behind the counter. The ads have him working the drive-thru, phoning companies about seafood services, promoting the food in a Shakespearean monologue, and coaching employees' voice skills. The company and the Muppets even released Pepe's audition tape and a recent YouTube short reminding people of Pepe's stint. The series has a lot of sly humor and is worth more than a few chuckles.

Sometimes you want to see a commercial again, not because it's fun, but because you want to double-check what you just saw. The first McDonald's TV commercial is one of those ads. To be fair, it's historically valuable, and you should see what the first Ronald McDonald looked like, just so you have that knowledge. But get ready for a surprise because everyone's favorite fast-food clown looked a lot different in 1963.

Before Ronald existed, McDonald's locations in Washington, D.C., would hire Bozo the Clown for promotions. Bozo was a franchised character, and multiple people could play him at different events. In D.C., one of those people was Willard Scott, the future reporter and weatherman. He helped McDonald's create its own clown character after the Bozo the Clown show was canceled. The original Ronald looked nothing like the redhead most people think of now and had a drink tray for a hat, a cup for a nose, and a fast-food tray at his belt where food magically appeared. However, the company decided to change clowns a few years later and modified Ronald's costume to look more like the version most people remember.

If you had to choose only one fast food ad for the title of most unforgettable, that would likely be Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" campaign from 1984. Three elderly women stare at a huge burger bun, lifting the top half off only to reveal a tiny meat patty, a tinier cheese slice, and a dainty pickle slice engulfed by the bread. One woman calls out in irritation, "Where's the beef?"

That woman was Clara Peller, and her gruff question became so well-known that, not only did Wendy's get a 31% increase in sales from it, but the phrase also worked its way into popular culture and speech. Even politicians started saying it, such as during the 1984 presidential debate, when Walter Mondale used it to criticize Gary Hart's policies. To this day, the phrase is slang that indicates something has no substance. It turns out that the catchphrase was originally longer, but Peller had emphysema and could say only the three now-famous words.

In the early 1970s, the country was right in the middle of a period called "the Great Inflation," which lasted from 1965 to 1982. While the early 1970s didn't see the worst of the inflation (that was in 1980 when it hit 14%), prices were already rising quickly. Financially, it wasn't the best time for a lot of people. McDonald's took a look at the economy and ran with it, creating ad campaigns in which change back from your purchase was a key selling point.

One such ad, from 1971, showed a man holding up a crumpled dollar bill and getting two burgers, small fries, and a drink along with change back. The soundtrack is the company's classic "You Deserve a Break Today" jingle, and the entire commercial is like a sigh of relief from higher prices. Another ad, from 1972, shows a bickering family arriving at McDonald's with the harried father rushing inside to repeat everyone's orders before he forgets. The cost for the entire meal is under $4, so he gets change, much to his delight. While this commercial isn't as calming as the 1971 version, it's still nice to reminisce about a time when you could feed a family of four for $4.

One of McDonald's catchier jingles was the "Two All-Beef Patties" tune, which quickly described what you'd get with a Big Mac. The words to the jingle came from an earlier print ad that the company had set to music. The tune is peppy and carefree (and is that "WKRP in Cincinnati" actor Gordon Jump in one of the scenes?). The company hoped the music would be a happy contrast to the mood in a country that was not only dealing with gas shortages but had also just witnessed the Watergate scandal.

The song became so well-known that when McDonald's asked customers to write a new tune using the same words in 2008, it received over 1,000 entries. DDB Worldwide, the ad agency that ran the contest, deliberately set out to find a more modern version of the jingle to appeal to younger customers.

In 1974, McDonald's and a lot of other fast food restaurants didn't really customize recipes. Other than minor tweaks, the burgers were pretty much standardized. And while In-N-Out had its secret menu, the chain hadn't yet expanded outside Southern California. Part of Burger King's appeal was the fact that customers could make special orders that were more than just "no cheese." That became the basis for the company's slogan of "Have It Your Way" in the early 1970s.

Burger King released a couple of commercials in 1974 that focused on that ability to customize and featured the classic "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us" song. One version featured a single female cashier singing a very mellow version of the jingle. But the other 1974 commercial featured three cashiers singing an upbeat and catchy soul version, complete with choreography (or as much as they could do behind a fast food counter) reminiscent of Motown girl groups like the Supremes. The song in that version is shorter but much more energetic and enjoyable to listen to.

Burger King partnered with basketball player Shaquille O'Neal for commercials in 2002, one of which was a tribute to the Whopper as it hit 45 years old. The commercial features Shaq "traveling" through the decades as he walks from the parking lot to the counter, starting in the 1950s as he gets out of a mid-century model car while a Jerry Lee Lewis soundalike belts out a decade-appropriate version of the Burger King jingle. As he enters the restaurant, his outfit, the musical style, and the employee uniforms all change to show the 1960s and 1970s, finally ending in 2002 with him walking out with a Whopper.

While the time-travel theme of the ad makes sense, given that it's part of the anniversary celebration for the Whopper, it was also part of a larger trend that year. Numerous commercials featured some sort of time-travel aspect, partly as a way to tap into the need for comforting nostalgia after the events of 9/11, and partly as a way to attract younger and older audiences by combining modern stars with vintage aesthetics. Regardless of the motivation behind the ad or the theme, it's a fun one to re-watch.

Fast food commercials don't have to be fancy to get their point across. In fact, one of the better ads has almost no action other than a burger being cooked and assembled. This is the company's 1987 commercial, and all it shows is someone's hands putting together Double-Doubles while the company's jingle plays in the background. The last two shots are of a woman about to eat a burger, and then the company's sign. It's straightforward, basic, relaxed, and honestly, one of the best ways to advertise food. This commercial is about ingredients, not gimmicks.

This wasn't In-N-Out's first commercial, but the way the food is filmed makes it one of the more notable. The company released a few commercials starting in 1981 (the first one included a celebrity endorsement from Jack Youngblood, who played for the L.A. Rams in the 1970s and 1980s). Others compared the 1958 Corvette convertible to the Double-Double or had humorous verbal breakdowns of the ingredients. But In-N-Out's focus has always been on its food, and the 1987 commercial is the one to watch.

Fast food commercials are just meant to be advertising, but sometimes they spark social conversations that lead to real-world changes in how people treat each other. That's the case with a series of commercials that Mel Tillis did for Whataburger in the early and mid-1980s. The commercials themselves are humorous and warm, showcasing Whataburger's fresh food. But they also became known for helping to advance the viewpoint that you shouldn't make fun of people with health conditions and disabilities.

Tillis had a stutter, and while he and others had poked fun at it in the past, the country was at a point where such jokes were no longer seen as cute. The Whataburger commercials show a progression from having someone finish his sentences to letting Tillis finish speaking on his own, even if the stutter caused a slight pause. The knowledge that these commercials did some good socially — combined with the good food they advertise — makes them worthy of repeated viewing.

If you remember people suddenly turning their pictures into Simpsons-like characters in the mid-2000s, you can thank Burger King. The company partnered with Fox to promote "The Simpsons Movie" in 2007, which included the creation of the Simpsonizer, a website where you could "Simpsonize" your picture. The site became so popular that people had trouble accessing it, and the company had to quickly add servers to handle the excessive traffic.

Of course, Burger King delivered a commercial to match. This was a mix of live action and animation, opening with two customers at the counter while animated green tentacles prepare an order. At the register is either Kodos or Kang (no, we can't tell them apart, either), who begins shooting lasers that turn "normal" people into characters from the TV show. The commercial ends with the revelation that the leader of the aliens is none other than BK's mascot, the King. It's clever and a nice throwback for anyone longing for a time when massive viral news on the web just meant giving yourself hair like Marge Simpson.

It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when the Big Mac was a novelty. It wasn't created until 1967 when a Pittsburgh franchise owner took things into his own hands. Jim Delligatti had repeatedly asked McDonald's main offices for a larger burger, which the company declined to make. However, it gave Delligatti the go-ahead to try something himself as long as he used ingredients that were already available at the restaurant. Delligatti knew that other restaurants like Bob's Big Boy were serving double-decker burgers, so he created a similar burger with a trimmed bottom bun serving as a central "club layer" to help stabilize a tower of meat, cheese, and lettuce. McDonald's approved the new burger in 1967 and started testing it around Pittsburgh, later releasing it to national outlets in 1968.

The commercial shows a man in a suit calmly demonstrating how a Big Mac is made. He goes through the steps slowly, giving you time to see everything you'd be getting if you ordered one. The movements are slow and careful, and you get a great view of every single ingredient. The camera finally pulls back, showing the man and his demonstration table inside a cartoon mouth that snaps shut. The last part is weird, but we'll watch the first three-quarters of the commercial on repeat.

Possibly the most astounding pair of fast food commercials came from Kentucky Fried Chicken back in the late 1960s. Most of the company's ads from that era weren't that weird; they were parodies of books or historical figures happily eating fried chicken. Funny, but not the type that would make you give your TV that thousand-yard stare.

That's not the case for two 1967 ads. These commercials came out of nowhere and used Cold War paranoia as jumping-off points for advertising chicken. In "Escape," a nervous housewife paces around a dark kitchen while a siren blares in the distance. Cryptic notes in the toaster, a cuckoo clock repeating "Escape," and a beckoning hand reaching out from a manhole make her run through a dark drainage tunnel (along with other housewives) to an isolated Kentucky Fried Chicken.

In "Lie Detector," several women discuss what they're going to do to someone attached to a lie detector mechanism. Turns out, it's the Colonel himself, tied to a chair, and the women are interrogating him for his secret KFC recipe. He starts to play along, only to mention ingredients like hubcaps and old overcoats, cackling as the women get frustrated. Add in the worm's-eye-view perspective and extreme close-ups, and you have a hilarious nightmare of a commercial.

Taco Bell's classic "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" commercial featured a chihuahua trotting toward what we initially think is the dog-love of his life. Instead, the chihuahua passes by the pink-collared pup and ends up at the foot of a bewildered man who's about to bite into a taco. The series of commercials ran from 1997 through July 2000.

The commercials were hits, but not without controversy. Hispanic and Latino activists called them offensive, claiming they pretty much reduced all of the Latino population to a stereotype in one tiny dog. Taco Bell, however, claimed that the ads had been tested for racial sensitivity and approved. 

The chihuahua was male in the commercials, but was a girl dog in real life. Gidget the chihuahua was three years old at the time the first Taco Bell commercial aired, and was originally supposed to be the female chihuahua who is ignored by the male chihuahua. She passed away in 2009.

Apparently, back in the 1970s, White Castle had a TV ad starring James Doohan as Scotty, his character from the original "Star Trek" series. Several people have claimed online that they remember seeing this in the New York, St. Louis, northern Illinois, and Cincinnati regions, but no one appears to have a copy now. Even White Castle doesn't have one archived, if a comment online is correct. Two commercials may have existed: One had Scotty beaming down to a White Castle to pick up sliders for the crew, while a second one showed the Enterprise docked at a space station drive-thru. However, some online comments point to that second ad as possibly being unauthorized.

Cast members from the original Star Trek series have done a number of commercials over the years, sometimes in character. So, we believe at least one of these White Castle commercials existed. We just really wish we could find a copy.