Super Bowl XLI Commercial Round-Up :: HOT or NOT?

I don't watch the super bowl for the football; I watch it for the ads.

Being an ad-lover, I decided to publish my thoughts on this year's biggest 2007 super bowl commercials. If advertisers are paying up to $80k per second, it better be worth it.
(Note: not every advertiser is mentioned here, just the noteworthy spots. For a complete list of 2007 advertisers, go to ifilm.)

Rating system: Hearts (out of 5) (0=worst / 5=best, fab, genius)

::5 Hearts::
Chevy HHR - Dancing Men
->Excellent because makes you laugh out loud until point of tears and gets the point accross that "men can't keep their hands off" the car/truck. Kudos to chevy's college challenge winner. One of this year's best!

Coke - Give A Little Love and it All Comes Back to You
->Excellent because coke positions themselves as the first step in the random acts of kindness outflow. (note: I think this is the commercial's tv premier, but it's been playing in movie theatres for awhile)

Nationwide Insurance - K-Fed
->Excellent and whitty marriage of celebrity and brand. Britney's estranged husband exemplified the Nationwide's campaign message "life comes at you fast" ... "a nationwide annuity guarantees you money for life." Need I say more?

::4 Hearts::
Doritos - Check-Out Lady
->Great because it touts and highlights the chips' flavours in a humerous way. Hummm, what was she doing under the register?

GM - Suicidal Robot
->Great because it gets the point accross that GM is obsessed with quality though the eyes of a robot --trying to symbolize GM's precision in making cars.

Coke - What Else Haven't I Done
->Great because sends a good message about living life to the fullest and pairs this human ideal with Coke.

GMC - Acadia
->Great because facinating take on the personal cues which make the car 'so unique...' (can't find commercial right now)

::3 Hearts::
Budweiser - Fake Dalmation
->Good because spot paints compelling story of a down-and-out, plain-white dog who becomes a celebrity for a day when he gets mud splashed all over his coat and is transformed into a dalmation. The connection to the brand is bud is the king of beers, the dog felt like king for a day... Best part is when the beauty queen hugs him at the end and gets mud all over her. A cute classic.

Sprint - Connectile Dysfunction
->Good because plays on two common problems in life. I will not go into further detail.

Garmin - Evil Mapisoris
->Good because clearly executes the point that maps are annoying and Garmin's GPS products solve headaches.

FedEx - Moon Office
->Good because insinuates that FedEx will a)take care of shipping to/from tough locations and b) is a hero to businesses because of what it can achieve.

NFL Network - Janet Reno's Superbowl party
->A commercial that brings Jimmy Fallon, Martha Stewart, Janet Reno, LL Cool J and David Beckham together is just funny.

::2 Hearts::
Snickers - After the Kiss
->Okayish because funny + awkward at same time. Will have people talking and drive traffic to website to see what happens after the kiss....what really happens is they want people to vote for their favourite snickers commercial and the winning commercial will appear on FOX. OOOOOH exciting. NOT. But the public love outcomes they can impact. American Idol anyone?

Pizza Hut - Jessica Simpson Cheesy Bites
->Worth mentioning because they are providing continuity by featuring Ms Simpson again this year with the ironic catch-phrase "cheesy bites, my one true love" hum, how appropriate.

::1 Heart::
Go Daddy.com - Marketing
->Not so great, could have been better. Using sex to sell is so beer-commercial-like. Since when are domain names sexy?