But what did they do that other’s didn’t? They released this spot on Facebook and YouTube a few days before the big game.

“Doesn’t that ruin the surprise?” You ask. Not really. It allows the spot to gain momentum before it goes live and creates even more buzz. Instead of saying, “Oh, did you see that VW ad with the Darth Vader kid?” it became, “OMG, you HAVE to see the ad from VW about the Darth Vader kid… you’ll love it.” See the difference?

It’s called Social Influence Marketing and it happens best when it happens organically, meaning, a marketing department isn’t shoving it down my throat telling me to tell my friends about it.

Doritos was really the early adopter here. A few years ago they opened up a competion for viewers to create and submit a commerical that would air on the super bowl. And their ads, through widely viewed on social media platforms before the game have ranked in the top 5 group each year.

Gone are the days where these super spots are kept under wraps and very hush-hush. Let it go and watch it spread!

Did any of you see any spots early this year? If so, where?

What I DID notice was there was definitely a lack of stellar ads this year. No more is it Bud vs Miller or Coke vs Pepsi. The majority of spots that I noticed were for the automobile industry and Doritos. Also, dogs replaced last year’s men in underwear. (If you recall last year just about every commercial had to do with guys in their boxers or briefs… this year it was all about man’s best friend. Doritos, Bud Light and Audi all used spot in their spots.)

The biggest disappointment I had was the lack of social media integration. No one invited me to “join in the conversation” on their Facebook page, or follow them on Twitter. The Ford Focus Rally was the closest thing during the pregame show… but really, no one engaged their audience outside of their 15-30 second spot. Shame, shame.

I thought the best ads came from Volkswagen and Bridgestone.

“The Force” by Volkswagen

“Black Beetle” by Volkswagen

“Carma” by Bridgestone

“Reply All” by Bridgestone

Most Controversial: Groupon

This caused a lot of chatter on Twitter last night. One group, @GlobalGiving tweeted this: “Didn’t love @Groupon‘s #superbowl ad? We have lots of ways you can help Tibet: http://bit.ly/dSFReg “. Ouch.

Most Awkward: “The Best Part” by Doritos

Poorest Choice for Spokesman: Brisk Tea & Chrysler

I understand that Eminem is from Detroit and all… but the image of Chrysler? Hmm, I dunno.

So what were your favorites. Which ones left you thinking or discussing?

CareerBuilder.com

If you hate going to work, nobody respects you, wish you were somewhere else, and daydream of punching small animals, check out this commercial for CareerBuilder.

Cars.com

David Abernathy can do a lot of things, but he can’t haggle with a car salesmen. Cars.com offers hope for him, and you.

Coca-Cola Avatar

Coca-Cola brings your internet self into the real world with much less disturbing results than how it would actually turn out if they did that.

Coca-Cola Heist

Coke takes the insect world and Ocean’s 11, and makes them have a baby. Here’s that baby.

Pedagree-Crazy Pets

Pedigree knows what a jungle it is out there for some pet owners.

Pepsi Max- “I’m Good”

Pepsi knows that a man’s manliness is almost as important as a palatable diet soda.  Almost.

Be sure to watch all the commercials live on NBC Sunday!

Here’s the lastest and greatest in a viral marketing campaign from Blendtec. A high-powered blender manufacturer.

Tom Dickson asks the famous question: “Will it blend?” and then shows that, yes, the blendtec blender will blend anything. Everything from a garden rake to the iPhone gets tested. Pretty smart, eh?

While I’m happy to see their website URL consistant with the campaign (www.willitblend.com), I’m a little dissapointed in how outdated it looks. If you want to order a blendtec blender it links you back to the corporate sales site which looks… well, corporate and doesn’t fit the marketing of Will It Blend.

Hmmm…a little disjointed and perhaps a bit out of touch with today’s ever changing market, but smart videos.

ADVERTISING RATES: Each ad is $25/month on a month-to-month basis or $250 for a year’s commitment (that’s two months FREE if you sign up for a year). Ads will be shown on all pages and posts throughout the website. There is no price difference between top and bottom ads as they all rotate every time the site is refreshed or a new page is accessed.

ADVERTISING SPECS: Please submit a 125×125 jpg (dimensions are in pixels) and the URL of your site to me at toby@tobysturgill.com. Ads that do not follow the above specs will not be placed on the site.

Membership is free. Come join the conversation and invite your friends and colleagues. It’s open to everyone.

This new all-in-one device makes the iPhone look like the Zack Morris brick phone. It’s got a sweet website that’s worth the loading time to check out.

(too bad the phone’s a fake and it’s really an ad for Nova Scotia. No really.)