No technology company has produced more compelling commercials than Apple. Very few companies have generated the amount of buzz Apple's ads have over the years.

 

Of course, that doesn't mean they haven't dropped the ball a few times. Mac|Life has compiled a list of our 10 least favorite Apple commercials.

 

 

#10 - This commercial does everything right, until the end. Then you hear this line, "Like many things a kid can pick up in school, it can be contagious." Uh, what? Comparing your computer to communicable diseases is a no-no.

 

 

#9 - The switch campaign created a mini-celebrity out of Ellen Feiss. Her bloodshot eyes, that far away stare. The question shouldn't have been, what was Ellen on? Instead, what was Apple thinking airing this disjointed story about a beeping PC?

 

 

 

#8 - Rivalries with friends are normal. These two guys though, it's as though they're covering for something. At one point, you can cut the sexual tension with a knife.

 

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#7 - Okay, this isn't an Apple ad. It is an ad for an Apple product. The failed Lisa computer didn't have a chance with commercials like this.

 

 

#6 - The "What's on your Powerbook" campaign had some great commercials showcasing people from different walks of life using their laptop. Then you got Haiku guy. The ramblings you usually hear outside the bus station are being used to sell computers.

 

 

#5 - Dick Cavett, sitting at a desk with a woman, discussing a computer. Truly riveting stuff.

 

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#4 - Here's how the pitch meeting for this commercial went. "We get an apple, since we're Apple Computer, then we introduce other fruits with wacky sound effects." Yeah, it's that bad.

 

 

#3 - The commercial for the 20th Anniversary Macintosh reminds us of those horrible corporate video openings. Without listing the machine's many failings, it's a wonder it sold at all with this ad.

 

 

#2 - The 1984 Super Bowl commercial was awe inspiring. It's still considered one of the greatest commercials ever produced. The 1985 "Lemmings" commercial on the other hand. Rows of blind-folded business people walking over the edge of a cliff to their doom while a creepy rendition of the Snow White song, "Heigh-Ho" plays in the background. That's just morbid.

 

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#1 - Times were tough in 1994 for Apple. What's a company on the brink of disaster do to restore its former glory. Well, you don't start making infomercials. Without a British spokesperson or shoe to cut through, the Performa infomercial just looks desperate.

 

If you know of an Apple commercial that didn't make the list, but should have. Tell us in the comments.