The Super Bowl was last night and for those of us who weren’t invested in the outcome, or who aren’t particularly interested in football, the high budget commercials were the highlight of the evening. Many were clever, some were funny, and at least one was surprisingly touching. Here are my pics for the best ads of the evening along with some that are just worth mentioning. You’re sure to have your own favorites. I’ll admit that I didn’t watch all the commercials and relied on a bunch of other “best of” lists to compile my own.

Betty White and Abe Vigoda for Snickers
I’m ashamed to say that I thought Abe Vigoda had passed on. He added a lot of interest to the end of this ad. Betty White talking smack to kids, that’s always interesting.

Google’s French connection
This ad had me pondering what my life story would look like when condensed through Internet searches. What you might consider reductionist can be surprisingly touching.

The Simpsons shill Coke
I’m not sure if I really like ad or if I find it off putting that The Simpsons are selling Coke. It’s a lateral move from Butterfingers I guess. This is like a condensed episode of the Simpsons in which everything turns out find at the end because the social heirarchy is leveled and there’s soda to ease the pain:

The Late Show featuring Oprah, Dave Letterman and… Leno?
We get it, there’s a new showdown at night. With all the talent and money they sunk in this ad, couldn’t they have made it funnier?

HomeAway – The Griswolds hotel hell
The stars of Vacation are back and wishing they didn’t stay in a hotel. Of course if they stayed at a private home the result would have been just as disastrous.

Bridgestone Tires’ whale bachelor party
This is like if they took The Hangover and made it just slightly more ridiculous. The ad could easily have been for Doritos, beer, or soda:

Doritos Snack attack samurai
When two guys steal a fellow gym-goers Doritos, the result is just damn funny.

Bud Lite Lost parody
The castaways aren’t interested in being rescued when there’s watery beer on hand.

E-Trade talking babies
Do these commercials ever get old? Why yes, yes they do.

You can watch all the Superbowl Commercials on Hulu [via E-Online] and by quarter on FunHouse.com.

Thanks to NBCLosAngeles, ChicagoNow, and The Herald Sun for recommendations.