Famous Commercials
Debuting in 1969 and running for decades, this brand’s most famous commercial features an owl asking, “How many licks” to the center of this sweet treat.
Answer: What is a Tootsie Pop? This is one of the longest-running commercials in TV ad history and is often aired around candy centric holidays like Halloween.
($100) The track and field world records for 100 and 200 meters are both held by this American, also called Flo Jo.
Answer: Who is Florence Griffith Joyner? Both records were set in 1988, one in Indiana and the other at the Olympics.
($100) Who organized the 1963 March on Washington and delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech?
Martin Luther King Jr.
($100) Which African American poet read their work at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration in 1993?
Answer: Maya Angelou
($100) What New England city is known for its tea party of 1773, an act of protest against English taxes?
Answer: Boston. The Boston Tea Party saw 342 chests of tea dumped into the harbor, worth nearly $2 million in today’s money.
($200) In the 1990s, a famous commercial for this soft drink featured Cindy Crawford simply walking to a vending machine.
Answer: What is Pepsi? The commercial first aired during the 1992 Super Bowl.
($200) On April 4, 1974, this man tied Babe Ruth’s record with 714 home runs; he would break the record only four days later.
Answer: Who is Hank Aaron? Aaron was congratulated for tying the record by Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Vice President Ford.
($200) Which activist co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and later became a U.S. Congressman?
Answer: John Lewis
($200) Which influential civil rights organization was founded by W.E.B. Du Bois and others in 1909?
Answer: NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
($200) What founding document is composed of a preamble followed by seven articles and (currently) 27 amendments?
Answer: The U.S. Constitution. The famous document includes the first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights.
($300) A 1987 Super Bowl commercial from this beer brand featured a goofy bull terrier named Spuds MacKenzie.
Answer: What is Bud Light? The commercial was successful but drew criticism for being too child-friendly for a beer brand.
($300) A milestone for this chilly sport came in 1972 with the Summit Series, a series of games between Canada and the Soviet Union.
Answer: What is ice hockey? The highlight of the series was Canada’s dramatic win during game eight.
($300) Who founded the “Freedom Rides” to challenge segregated bus terminals in the South?
Answer: James Farmer
($300) What was the name of the 1961 movement where activists rode buses through the segregated South?
Answer: The Freedom Rides
($300) Which of these was not a common occupation in Colonial America: barrel maker, shipwright, or vintner?
Answer: Vintner. Craftsmen and small businessmen, as well as farmers, servants, and unskilled workers, made up a large part of the working class in 1776.
($400) Fittingly, an Apple commercial from this year referenced George Orwell’s most famous book.
Answer: What is 1984? The computer brand played off the novel’s idea of conformity to espouse their new PC as breaking the mold.
($400) A milestone in basketball came in 1976 when the NBA joined forces with the ABA, which stands for this, creating a strengthened front.
Answer: What is the American Basketball Association? Importantly, the merger introduced the three-point line to NBA gameplay.
($400) What was Rosa Parks’ occupation at the time of her historic bus boycott?
Answer: Seamstress
($400) What was the name of the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery?
"Blood Sunday"
($400) What church remained the most popular religious institution in most of the southern colonies until after independence was won?
Answer: The Church of England (Anglican). After the war, it evolved into the Episcopalian Church.
($500) One of the most famous commercial campaigns of all time, Coca-Cola’s 1971 “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” ad was originally shot in this European nation.
Answer: What is Italy? The beautiful Roman hillside was actually the backup location; weather prevented shooting at the Cliffs of Dover.
($500) The world record for a hammer throw is held by Yuriy Sedykh, of this nation (at the time), which no longer exists.
Answer: What is the Soviet Union? Set on August 30, 1986, the record still stands at 86.74 meters (284.5 feet).
($500) Which lawyer and NAACP litigator successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court?
Answer: Thurgood Marshall
($500) Which legendary queen of Ethiopia visited King Solomon, according to tradition?
Answer: The Queen of Sheba (Makeda)
($500) What was the name of Sam Adams’ underground resistance group?
Answer: The Sons of Liberty. This grassroots group began in Boston and soon spread to New York and other colonies.