Yesterday, terri24601 tweeted about one of Mastercard’s newest “Priceless” ads:

Peyton Manning’s New World MasterCard Commercialhttp://bit.ly/148buR Another hilarious one. The guy actually can act.

Of course, Peyton is just the latest actor in Mastercard’s “Priceless” campaign, which is legendary in the advertising world as one of the most enduring and successful campaigns of the past decade. The format is probably familiar to all of us- a narrator (currently voiced by actor Billy Crudup) lists a few items and their prices, followed by the more intangible, and “priceless” result. Let’s watch Peyton go through his twist on the standard operating procedure.

Mastercard’s “Priceless” campaign began in 1997 and was devised by international ad firm McCann-Erickson. As some of the top brass mention in a roundtable discussion about the ad campaign, the “Priceless” idea was created as a response to the perceived images of competitors Visa and American Express. Heavy Mastercard users saw their card as more practical than materialistic, and ad gurus jumped on that as the starting point for their campaign. Creative Chief Joyce King Thomas credits creative director Jonathan Cranin as the author of the tagline ”There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.”  From there, the word “priceless” developed as a part of the campaign.

The first Mastercard “Priceless” ad started airing in 1997. It’s  about a boy going to a baseball game with his father, and you can see it in the clip below (the ad starts at 1:08).

From that point on, there have been literally hundreds of variations of the Mastercard “Priceless” ad. Once the ad took off, parodies, positive consumer response, and near pop culture ubiquity told the company that the campaign was a success. Cross-promotional campaigns are frequent, and it’s almost a sure bet that you’ll see a “Priceless” ad during the Superbowl- Mastercard has been named as one of the most memorable advertisers to air commercials during the big game.

That’s not to say that the campaign has worked perfectly. Though Mastercard is tolerant of parodies and riffs on the “Priceless” theme, in 2000, Presidential candidate Ralph Nader was sued for using the “Priceless” template. While the suit against Nader was dismissed, you won’t find us at TakingCredit.com riffing on the “Priceless” theme any time soon. Mastercard has even trademarked the term “Priceless” as part of their effort to solidify the campaign.

Overall, the “Priceless” campaign has been an immensely durable template for a wide range of campaigns. Occasional contrarians have complained about specific iterations, but overall, “Priceless” remains a cultural touchstone for consumers. Twelve years old, the campaign is also still expanding. Addicts can see more commercials (and learn more about Mastercard, of course) at Priceless.com, and iPhone users can access “Priceless” themed apps. International consumers can see their own iteration of the “Priceless” campaign. All in all, after twelve years running, it’s clear the Mastercard “Priceless” campaign is…well, you can finish the thought yourself.

Tags: american express, baseball game, consumer response, creative director, joyce king, king thomas, mccann erickson, narrator, parodies, peyton manning, top brass, world as one, world mastercard