Tommy Hilfiger was apparently the first fashion designer to purchase ad time during the Super Bowl. The goal was to introduce Hilfiger Athletics to a large, mass-market audience about Hilfiger Athletics for the first time, a Deutsch rep told Ad Age years later. The costly Super Bowl buy partly signaled that Hilfiger was serious about the athletics business, partly “that they were approaching it as an athletic fashion status brand,” the rep said. The creative was lighthearted, tapping “Seinfeld” star Michael Richards to not exactly posterize his competition on a basketball court. “The commercial reflected the overall brand personality and philosophy, which was all about having fun in life and on the playing field,” Deutsch’s rep said.

BRAND: Hilfiger Athletics

YEAR: 1998

AGENCY: Deutsch

SUPERBOWL: XXXII

QUARTER AIRED: Q4