Richard Dean Anderson reprises his role as MacGyver in this parody via MasterCard and agency McCann Erickson. 

Anderson uses an air freshener to cut ropes tying to him a chair, glides down a cord from a window with a tube sock and fixes a semi truck with tweezers, nasal spray and a turkey baster just in time to avoid an explosion. Of course, he purchased all of these items with his MasterCard. "The phrase 'witty Super Bowl spot' may no longer be oxymoronic," New York Times ad columnist Stuart Elliott wrote.

Just three years later Pepsi would mine the "MacGyver" vein as well with its Super Bowl XLIII ad "PepSuber." CBS also brought the character back to life in a new series for fall 2016.

This "MacGyver" ad was one of two Super Bowl spots for MasterCard in 2006, along with "Marathon Man," and the pair followed earlier years of MasterCard ads in the big game. But the brand's Super Bowl habit, which dated back to its debut in 1996 ("Desert Vending Machine"), waned as MasterCard sat out ensuing years.

Director: Tom Kuntz, who also directed MasterCard's other commercial in the game. Production company: MJZ.

Chief creative officer: Joyce King-Thomas. Executive producer: Sally Hotchkiss. Copywriter: Leslie Sims. Art directors: Audrey Huffenreuter. Editorial: MacKenzie Cutler Editorial.

BRAND: MasterCard

YEAR: 2006

AGENCY: McCann Erickson

SUPERBOWL: XL

QUARTER AIRED: Q4