• Forbes CMO Network; Fast Company, Wednesday, June 10, 2009 11 AM

It is comforting to know that the years are kind to sex appeal -- at least as far as eight ad industry judges brought together for a Forbes magazine feature are concerned. The sexiest commercial ever made, they collectively say, was the 1991 spot that opens with supermodel Cindy Crawford stepping out of a red Lamborghini. She suggestively buys a Pepsi from a vending machine at a rest stop as two panting young men look on.

A 1973 Noxema ad starring the young Farrah Fawcett and smooth-faced Joe Namath takes the fourth position in the poll, and a couple of early Eighties spots starring Brooke Shields and her Calvins are also in the mix. They "would never run today," writes Helen Coster.

The mostly male judges, putting hoary adages above hormones, felt that even sexy ads should relate to a product's supposed benefits. "The sexiest spots are suggestive, but they aren't over the top," says Bill McCuddy, ad critic for Forbes. Over the top would be Go Daddy's ads starring Danica Patrick (see story above).

Fast Company, meanwhile, selects the "10 Most Creative People in Advertising and Marketing." Crispin Porter + Bogusky's co-chairman, Alex Bogusky, claws his way to the top of the list over TBWA Worldwide's grizzled global director of media arts, Lee Clow. Jeff Goodby of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Dan Wieden, co-founder of Wieden + Kennedy and "special effects geek" Robert Greenberg, CEO and global chief creative officer at R/GA, round out the top five .

Read the whole story at Forbes CMO Network; Fast Company »