Beyond the highlight reel sacks and gut-busting grub, the true allure of the Super Bowl lies in catching the latest in advertising excellence.
From "Mean" Joe Greene showing his softer side in a Coke commercial to Apple's Orwellian effort in 1984, the big game has often taken a backseat to fans more consumed with Budweiser's latest offering than the final score.
To honor the country's time-tested fascination with Super Bowl ads, the Editorial Board offers you a run-down of some of the best (and, well, not so great) ads from Sunday's game.
Bud Light At Staff Meetings: What happens when you suggest eliminating Bud Light from staff meetings? You get thrown out the window - seat and all. At least the guy in question didn't seem too hurt after surviving a pretty treacherous fall.
Pepsi's "Forever Young": From Bob Dylan to will.i.am, Pepsi's commercial presented a refreshing take on America by juxtaposing the '60s and present-day. Quite the apropos offering to remind us why our country is so great.
Doritos' "Crystal Ball": Doritos started the night off quite strongly as we learned throwing a crystal ball is good for getting free chips, but a terrible idea for getting a job promotion.
Bud Light's Conan O'Brien Commercial: O'Brien's agent convinces him to make a commercial that he promises will never been seen in the states. Predictable, though still quite funny, O'Brien becomes the laughingstock of Manhattan as the ad gets played in Times Square.
Doritos' "Crunch": Solidifying its place as this year's big winner, Doritos' second commercial was even better than the first. Who wouldn't want to eat a snack food that caused ATMs to spit out cash?
Budweiser's "Daisy": After a lackluster spot featuring a Clydesdale fetching a tree branch, Budweiser totally redeemed itself by telling the love story between two horses smitten with each other. Aw, how cute is that?
Cash4Gold's "Fallen Stars": The Editorial Board couldn't help but laugh at MC Hammer and Ed McMahon as they poked fun at their fallen stars in this satirical masterpiece. What really caught our eye was McMahon's gold-plated toilet - we wonder what the starting bid will be once it hits eBay.
Cars.com's "David Abernathy": Easily one of the most engaging offerings of the evening as we meet David Abernathy - a young man born into the world already exuding confidence. Abernathy could perform open heart surgery with a pen at the opera, but he wasn't confident enough to make a car purchase?
Bridgestone's "On the Moon": Apparently the moon can be a pretty rough place as two astronauts found out the hard way. After collecting moon rocks and goofing around, they return to their spaceship to see it up on blocks. We can safely assume they filmed this commercial in Detroit.
Teleflora's "Boxed Flowers": Ladies, if you receive boxed flowers on Valentine's Day, it means whoever sent them to you "doesn't want to see you naked." Though, that sketchy co-worker in the ad probably wouldn't mind.
Hardee's "Mafia Hit": The newest addition to the menu at Hardee's is so messy it can save your life. Some poor schlub dripped tomato sauce all over himself, convincing two mafia hit men their work was already done. Somewhere Tony Soprano was shaking his head.
Careerbuilder.com's "It May Be Time": We found ourselves laughing out loud after seeing this commercial, which offers an entire laundry list of reasons why it is time to leave your job. Any ad that depicts fat men crying, women riding dolphins and an Asian man berating his co-worker is downright awesome in our book.
To view any of this year's Super Bowl commercials, go to www.hulu.com or www.nbc.com.
