8 Best Commodore 64 TV Commercials Ever Made

Commodore C64 Family Pack [1983]

★★★★★

This commercial is a bucket of fun and rather upbeat. Something that cannot be said about Commodore US's advertisements from the same period. This ad has bikini clad twins sliding down a slippery-dip, the typical Commodore great value proposition and a clear price expectation. Given Commodore's aggressive pricing of their products it can be stated with near certainty that AU$499 would have been a price you could not walk away from.

The Commodore jingle in Australian TV ads are not world famous. It is still a common Google search every day. This jingle alone must have sold a million units. I explore this fun jingle on my TV ad lyrics page.

Commodore SX-64 [1984]

★★★★★

Between the footage of middle aged men and twenty-somethings in bikinis there are glimpses of the Commodore SX-64 in action. The form factor of this model is excellent for its day. Apart from the price the only real let down was the weight of the machine. This machine defines the term "luggable".

My friends are knocking down my door to get into my Commodore 64 [US 1985]

★★★★★

After a fair amount of crate-digging, I have unearthed a gem of an advert from the United States for the Commodore 64. Normally, the US adverts are boring. This advert is fun and dynamic. Soon you will be singing along to the jingle, "My friends are knocking down my door to get into my Commodore 64!" Who cares what the price is? The Commodore 64 is fun and your friends will love you.

The ever enjoyable keeping up with Commodore [1983]

★★★★☆

This advertisement hits its target audience square in the eye; Parents. Launching with business and employment, then a teenage is busy programming in his bedroom, then a demonstration in the classroom, then back to business. Stunning writing from the ad-men.

Never forget the Commodore 64 [GB 1984]

★★★☆☆

This thirty second advertisement for the Commodore C64 was aired in the United Kingdom in 1984. This was part of a series of ads featuring the elephants never forget motto. The video editing is slick and the narrator is standard fare for this period. Overall, this Commodore C64 advert from the UK is middle of the road, and frankly, forgettable.

Commodore 64 Family Pack [1987]

★★★☆☆

The Commodore C64 has been around for long enough now to have annual packs. This year's packs included a number of good franchise brands including an America's Cup simulation. While these games reviewed well, they didn't have the Zzap Sizzle factor to them. The advert still appealed to people who hadn't joined the microcomputer revolution by then.

John Laws continues to flog the C64 [1987]

★★☆☆☆

The C64 was getting on in years by 1987 and the advertisements needed to stay on target. Eureka, let's roll out John Laws, with his deep authoritative voice, and reassure everybody that the C64 is the best. If you want an TV advert that summarizes the C64 the best then this is the commercial slot to watch. John Laws claims that "over 7 million units have been sold worldwide."

Four Atari computers has the same capacity as one Commodore C64 [1982]

★☆☆☆☆

Typical of US commercials, Commodore is promoting the C64 as a much cheaper alternative to the Atari computer. This advert is nowhere near as fun and catchy as some of the overseas adverts shown below. There is one important thing to remember about this era and that is that memory was very expensive. The competitive entry price is about the only thing that makes this advert memorable. US television must have been very boring in those days.

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I Adore Commodore [1987]

This strange video from Italy dates from 1987. It is possible that this is a straight music video but I get the feeling that this is an industry video promoting the technology or the Commodore C64. The I adore Commodore video is highly sexualized with two models dancing the robot while a skinny guy plays 8-bit games. These games appear outdated by 1987 standards and one of the games is an educational release about the solar system. Eventually the girls strip the gamer down to his birthday suit. The guy uses nothing but the Commodore C64 to protect his modesty.

More Commodore 64 History

Looking back, these advertisements are about far more than selling computers. They capture a brief period when home computing was new, exciting and full of possibility. Parents saw educational opportunities, businesses saw productivity gains, and children saw games, creativity and exploration. The Commodore 64 sat at the centre of that moment and became one of the most successful home computers ever produced.

If you would like to learn more about the machine behind these commercials, including its hardware, software, games, history and lasting influence on computing culture, visit my Commodore 64 topic page.