The top five Olympic commercials

With billions of people watching around the globe, the Olympics is a prime showcase for advertisers as well as athletes.

Over the years, there have been some pretty memorable television spots that promote both a particular brand and the Games themselves. The best commercials, for the most part, share sentimental values like courage, drive and togetherness.

Occasionally, they can be ahead of their time:

Or they can be appealingly clever:

They can tug at the heartstrings:

And they can tug at the competitor in us all:

Most importantly, they remind us that while the Olympics pit athletes against one another, the event is primarily about coming together as a planet:

See related Olympics content from Yahoo! Sports:
• Memorable Moments: Mary Lou Retton becomes America's darling
• David Beckham photo-bombs fans in London
• Raising an Olympian: Lolo Jones