Two Super Bowl spots were tied atop USA TODAY's Ad Meter for the first time in the metric's 23 years: Bud Light's "dog sitter" ad in the fourth quarter and Doritos' "dog's revenge" ad in the first quarter. Doritos "struck marketing gold" with its "now-familiar formula" of consumer-generated ads. The night marked a "return to glory" for A-B, which had won 10 straight ad meters from '99-'08. Volkswagen's "Darth Vader" spot came in third, "tied for the highest finish ever by a car ad" (USA TODAY, 2/7).
PepsiCo runs a full-page ad in USA Today promoting its Doritos and Pepsi Max brands, both of which were featured heavily in Super Bowl advertising. The print ad features the copy "Congratulations To Our Winners" and includes two coupons (THE DAILY).
The FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM's Robert Philpot writes the ads "for the most part … didn't justify the reported $3 million that advertisers paid for 30 seconds of airtime." The WASHINGTON POST's Hank Struever writes the Super Bowl ads "mostly failed to score big." However, there were a "few highlights here and there, beginning and ending for most viewers with a satisfyingly cute Volkswagen ad." The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' David Hinckley writes the best ad was Fox’ promo for “House” that featured a "deliciously twisted parody of the famous Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola ad." The “second best ad” was Audi’s "Escape to Luxury" spot.
