The best ad of the night was the one on the field by the Pittsburg Steelers taking their NFL best 6th Super Bowl title. Is there a better brand in team sports – don’t think so. Here’s our take on the rest of the ad lineup…

Coca-Cola – Our favorite was the “Heist” ad, production level on the concept was incredible, and it hit a home run on the “Open Happiness” tag.

General Electric – The scarecrow ad was right up there on production level with “Heist”, subject matter may have been a little over the head for many viewers in this setting though. Was so busy watching the “crow”, missed part of the ad message.

Bridgestone – It’s interesting that the concepts of using Mr. and Mrs. Potato head, and the spacemen were pretty cool, but we just got the feeling they could have been better served being used for a different brand. It was almost too cool for Bridgestone.

Coke Zero – The original is so memorable, using the exact same concept came across awkward. Also not sure Troy was the best Steeler’s player to use, would have personally liked to see NFL Defensive Player of hte Year James Harrison actually tackle both the Coke ad guys. The jersey (shirt) toss at the end did give a little different humorous spin though.

E-Trade – The ad was humorous, but the viral clip that’s been online and also in movie theaters included much better funnier material. We’ve been a huge fan of these in the past, so maybe it’s just a symptom of setting the bar to high with previous results. We expected the SB ad to better the teasers leading up to the big game.

Pepsi – A “MacGruber” spoof – really? As a Super Bowl ad – really? Brutal, but because it was so bad it’s one we actually remembered the day after so maybe it worked.

Budweiser – “Circus” and “Stick” were good fun, not so much for the ancestor trip – concept didn’t seem tight enough.

CareerBuilder – Definitely got the message and was funny, seemed to drag on by the end though.

Doritos – “Crystal Ball” from the amatuers won the USA Today index, but really it seemed like a bad YouTube submission – brutal.

Suprised by the overall lack of an online tie-in with the ads. Sure CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com, E-Trade, Hulu, Cash4Gold, and Monster.com have a built-in tie, but we only really remember Go Daddy at the end with a call to action to go online for more related info (a continuation ending for their ads). Expected more big ideas that included online extensions to continue the experience.