Celebrities in 1990s and 2000s U.S. Commercials Quiz

Answer: Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys are an American band composed of AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell. The band released their first studio album in 1996, but their first real claim to fame came with the single "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" in 1997.

At what was perhaps the peak of their popularity, the group collaborated with the fast food chain Burger King in 2000 by participating in a series of TV commercials, as well as selling a compilation album called "For the Fans" that was only available at the restaurants.

Answer: NSYNC & Britney Spears

In the year 2000, the popular fast food chain McDonald's brought together Britney Spears and the boy band NSYNC to appear in a series of commercials for the chain. The collaboration also included a special CD entitled "Your #1 Requests... and More!", which included remixes of songs like "Bye Bye Bye" and "Oops! I Did it Again".

The CD, which was sold in McDonald's restaurants at the beginning of the millennium, also featured video content that depicted NSYNC filming a music video.

Answer: Faith Hill

A memorable Pepsi commercial from the early 2000s involves Faith Hill, a popular country singer in the U.S., trying to learn a song called "Joy of Cola". Hill is taught by "the Pepsi Girl" (Hallie Eisenberg) how to correctly sing the lyrics and melody of this catchy jingle. Faith Hill found success in the year 2000, as she not only appeared in this Pepsi commercial, but also performed at both the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards. Hallie Eisenberg is the sister of actor Jesse Eisenberg.

Answer: Mr. T

Mr. T, whose real name is Laurence Tureaud, is perhaps best known for his distinctive hairstyle. Mr. T has appeared in numerous films and television shows, as well as in other media like wrestling shows and various TV commercials. He is notorious for having been the spokesman for multiple companies, such as Snickers, RadioShack, and World of Warcraft.

In the year 2000, Mr. T filmed a commercial for a loan company called Mississippi Title Loans. In the commercial, Mr. T uttered a variation of his famous phrase: "I pity the fool who don't know about title loans".

Answer: Jared Fogle

Subway is an American brand that specializes in selling sandwiches (or, as they are also known, subs). Fogle served as a long-time spokesman for the brand between 1999 and 2011. Subway capitalized on Fogle's claim that he had lost an incredible amount of weight through a combination of exercise and eating Subway sandwiches.

However, Fogle's image was thoroughly tarnished by his 2015 arrest, conviction and imprisonment for various sexual offences.

Answer: David Arquette

These commercials were part of the larger telecommunications "war" that was taking place in the 1990s between AT&T and MCI. MCI began taking a big portion of AT&T's market share in collect calling when they introduced their own service, 1-800-COLLECT.

In response, AT&T launched a series of commercials featuring actor David Arquette. One of these commercials showed him lifting a phone as if it was a set of dumbbells, claiming he got his muscles from making "100 collect calls a day" using 1-800-CALL-ATT and its "low rates".

Answer: Evander Holyfield

Evander Holyfield achieved great success in boxing, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. His success translated to numerous commercial deals with companies like Coca-Cola. Holyfield is also known for a 1997 incident in which Mike Tyson bit his ear. In 2003, the beer brand Miller Lite aired an advertisement in which three young men drank beer and one of them claimed that he could defeat Holyfield in a boxing match. As they imagine how that would go, Holyfield appears and literally knocks his opponent's head off his body.

Holyfield, of course, is not the first boxer to appear in advertisements. Gateway, a computer company that was taken over by Acer in 2007, signed Muhammad Ali to do a Gateway commercial in 1982.

Answer: William Shatner

Priceline.com is one of the many OTAs (online travel agencies) where users can look for cheap hotel reservations and flights. However, despite the illusion of choice, Priceline's parent company (Booking Holdings) has also acquired many "competitors" over the years, such as KAYAK.com and Booking.com. Priceline became well-known in the late 1990s and early 2000s for its many commercials featuring actor William Shatner.

In one ad, for instance, Shatner sang about "a whole new age of consumer power" and how users could pick their own price and the website would find something fit for their budget.

Answer: Sting

Sting was the lead singer for The Police, an English band that had multiple hits like "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "Every Breath You Take". In January 2000, Sting released his solo song "Desert Rose". Since the music video for that song showed him riding in a Jaguar S-Type, Sting and Jaguar decided that they could mutually benefit from collaborating in an ad campaign. Months later, Jaguar aired commercials with Sting singing "Desert Rose" as he "dreamed" of being in an S-Type car.

Answer: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Randy Savage was one of the most popular wrestlers of the late 1980s and early 1990s. "Macho Man", as he was nicknamed, quickly became very popular with WWF fans. He earned multiple titles throughout his career, such as the Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Championship. Capitalizing on his image, the snack company Slim Jim produced a series of commercials where "Macho Man" would over-enthusiastically "snap into" Slim Jims and encourage others to do the same.