by Lynette Alice

Created on: December 06, 2009

Athletes have been go to personalities for commercials since the television existed. Even before television, athletes were integral to many major marketing campaigns. Part of the reason athletes are advertising favorites is because the appeal to every age group as sports fans generally remain sports fans for life. As an athletes on field performance soars, the desire for people to want to emulate or at least associate themselves with that athlete rises usually meaning they will do so in the one way that is easiest to do - buying the products they endorse.

While everyone has their own idea of what makes for a great commercial, the basic formula is not only increased sales but entertainment value and how easy an athlete is identified to a brand. There are some athletes who became so entwined with certain products that even years after their commercials ended they are still remembered for them. With that in mind here are the ten best commercials by an athlete ever.

#10 - Michael Jordan for Gatorade

Gatorade's "I wanna be like Mike" campaign was an instant success. People did want to be like Mike whether they were young or old. The concept of the ad was simple with kids on the playground doing their darnedest to play like Mike. The Jingle was easy to remember "If I could be like Mike, I wanna be I wanna be like Mike..." Simple or not it stuck in your head. The line even made appearances in Movies like "Bad Boys" with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence using it repeatedly in reference to Will Smith's character "Mike Lowry." Nobody said a commercial had to be flashy to be great.

#9 Michael Jordan for Nike

The combination of Michael Jordan with the Spike Lee alter ego Mars Blackman made for a memorable series of commercials. The best of the bunch however was the one in which Mars incessantly quizzed Micheal Jordan about what made him great. It wasn't the socks, the extra long shorts, the haircut, or even according to Mike himself the shoes. Mars wasn't buying it and coined the catchphrase "Money it's got to be the shoes." It caught on, Air Jordans kept flying off the shelves, and Spike Lee didn't suffer from the extra exposure either.

#8 Yogi Berra for Miller Lite

In 1987 Miller Lite tapped the old baseball philosopher Yogi Berra to share his ideas on what made Miller Lite so great. Of course nobody could really follow what Yogi was getting at as the ad was riddled with "Yogisms", but that was the charm of it. Berra was long known for and loved for his statements like "Nobody

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