Post-Super Bowl 46 Notes: Ad Favorites, Puppies and Avoiding Who Actually Won

Well, another Super Bowl is done and I can’t say I’m happy with the result.
It was a great game, though, and my husband sure is happy.
If only Wes Welker caught that pass. If only Tom Brady didn’t start the game off with an intentional grounding/safety. If only…

Before the game, we watched some of the Puppy Bowl. My 3 year old asked when the puppies would be playing again during the first 5 minutes of the football game.
During the game, I ate lots of food, Facebooked, tweeted, texted and took a few notes on my iPad.
Being an advertising junkie, I noted which ads I liked the best. (Because, let’s face it, as a Pats fan I’m trying to focus on something other than the game right now.) Here are the top 5 ads that stood out for me:

• Suzuki “Sled” – The Suzuki commercial features Siberian huskies jamming out in a 2012 Suzuki Kizashi, presumably somewhere in Alaska. The driver apparently traded the dog sled in for the car. It has huskies in it, so we loved it.
• M&M’S “Just My Shell” – A couple of men giggle because they think a brown M&M showed up to a party naked, as a red M&M takes off his red “shell” and starts dancing to “Sexy and I know it.” Dancing M&M’s are funny. That is all.
• Doritos® – Man’s Best Friend – The Doritos commercial that starts with a Great Dane hiding tags to a cat collar and ends with him bribing his “Dad” with a bag of Doritos and a note that says “You didn’t see nuthin” was a big hit in our house.
• The Dog Strikes Back: 2012 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial – The sporty new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle inspires Bolt the dog to get into shape. Another animal-themed ad that made us laugh.
• A Dream Car. For Real Life.” — 2012 Kia Optima – This commercial features Motley Crue. That’s about all you need to know. It made everyone in my house laugh out loud. Or, kickstart my heart, if you will.

Honorable mentions go to: Chevy Silverado “2012”, Samsung Mobile USA – Thing Called Love and “Matthew’s Day Off”.
The Chrysler commercial featuring Clint Eastwood stood out to me, but not because I liked it. It seems like we did this emotional “America and Detroit are making a comeback” commercial last year with Eminen (though last year’s was more focused on Detroit and an actual car). I liked it last year. This year, it just seemed too long and repetitive. There’s some speculation that it had political motivations as well.
Of course, the H&M ad featuring David Beckham also caught my eye. But for completely different reasons. Ahem. This Cars.com one just freaked me out.
And if you live in Maine, you can’t forget this local gem of an ad. (You should watch this, even if you’re not from Maine. It’s pretty much awesome.)
My notes on Madonna included: bad performance, almost fell a few times and holy terrible new song. A bit harsh, maybe, but I hate Super Bowl halftime performances. And, these days, if you’re performing at the Super Bowl you’re pretty much a has been. I used to love Madonna, and this is sad to me. Also, what was up with words “World Peace” appearing in lights at the end of the performance? Yikes.
Those were my notes from the big game. What were your highlights of Super Bowl 46?