People think resurfaced clip of banned Super Bowl advert is still one of 'funniest of all time'
People will sell their homes, families and soul to buy a Super Bowl advert slot these days - especially this year, as it costs a whopping £184,645 for each second on-screen.
That's an eye-watering £5.54 million for each of the 30 second clips we will see on Sunday (11 February), which often end up distracting from all the drama going down on the football field.
So far this year, we've had Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer awkwardly reunite for an Uber Eats ad, Lionel Messi featuring in a Michelob Ultra commercial and Budweiser bringing back the iconic Clydesdales horses for the big game.
But before the price for a slot drastically inflated and celebrities stole the limelight, Super Bowl adverts used to be a lot different - and some might say a lot funnier too.
Advert
Take the US firm Smart Beep's 1999 commercial for example, which never made it to air after TV bigwigs spoiled all the fun and banned it from ever seeing the light of day.
But it obviously ended up finding it's way onto the internet, and sports fans consider it as the one that got away, as well as one of the 'funniest adverts of all time'.
Have a look at it for yourself here:
Twenty five years ago, there wasn't any iPhones knocking around and people still relied on pagers, otherwise known as beepers, to communicate and Smart Beep was one of the network providers.
These wireless telecommunications devices could receive and display voice messages as well as texts with letters and numbers, and the firm wanted to push their $1.99 a month subscription services.
So they did what any big tech company would do - produced an advert that centred around a massive fart.
The controversial Smart Beep commercial shows a bloke picking up a pretty blonde from her home and walking her to his car while they head out on a blind date.
The pair start chatting and the man makes it known he has never been on one before, while the woman informs him that she does it 'all the time'. Ok, nothing too weird just yet.
It was 1999 and chivalry wasn't quite dead yet, so he opened her door for her and makes sure she gets in safely.
The fella then walks round the car to reach his door, giving his date a valuable few seconds to make sure she's ready for a night of being wined and dined.
She didn't simply check her lipstick in the mirror, though.
The woman lifted up her leg and royally let rip just moments before the man hopped into the drivers sit.
He has got a disgusted look on his face, but he clearly doesn't want to spoil the evening before he has even set off and instead asks his new lady friend: "You guys meet?"
She's left looking pretty horrified when he turns to the backseat and points to his pals Greg and Janet who have been sat there the entire time - and obviously witnessed her huge fart.
A robotic voice then joins the advert and says: "That was stupid. This is smart. A beeper service for just a buck 99 a month. From who else - Smart Beep. Call 1-800-BEEP-199 for other smart stuff like directions."
Loads of people love a good fart joke and a bad blind date story, but it seems that bosses at TV network Fox did not also revel in this kind of humour as they put the mockers on it getting a Super Bowl slot.
But Smart Beep has still got notoriety a quarter of a century later. So who's the real winner here?
It seems social media users who still cackle when watching it are, to be honest.
One amused viewer commented: "Man I've been laughing off this for years since I was like 19, I'm 41 now and I'm still laughing."
Another added: "One of the funniest commercials of all time and the girl in the backseat really makes it."
A third wrote: "This is STILL my favourite commercial... 'Did you all meet?' Hilarious!"
And a fourth chimed in: "This never gets old."
Topics: Social Media, Super Bowl, TV and Film, US News
Olivia Burke