Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Last Updated Mon. 8:25 a.m. ET
The expected audience for Sunday's championship match between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots was more than 111 million viewers, who expected to be entertained by the game - and by the ads.
Not to disappoint, marketers for everything from cars to yogurt are using plenty of stars in this year's crop of ads in what is advertising's biggest annual showcase.
Here are some samples of ads shown during Super Bowl XVLI:
Acura
Comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno will appear in Acura's first Super Bowl commercial as two car collectors bidding to be the first to take home the Acura NSX sportscar.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Honda
Actor Matthew Broderick recreates his iconic role in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" as a grownup driving a Honda Cr-V in the carmaker's ad.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Teleflora
Gentlemen: Teleflora makes it very easy for you. If you are paying a little too much attention to Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima in this alluring ad, make sure you send flowers to your wife.
Lima also appears in the ad below:
Kia Optima
A hazard of the job - Mr. Sandman spilling too much of his magic dust. Unfortunately such things only happen in commercials.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
H&M
Soccer (sorry, FOOTBALL!) player David Beckham will introduce a line he designed for H&M in the Swedish clothing retailer's first Super Bowl ad. Preview above.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Century 21
Billionaire Donald Trump and sports stars Deion Sanders and Apolo Ohno appear in real estate agency Century 21's first Super Bowl ad.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Budweiser: "Flash fans"
Two Canadian recreational league teams are surprised by Budweiser with a "flash fan" audience, cheerleaders and professional announcers.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Pepsi
"King's Court" features a music showdown between medieval king Sir Elton John and "The X Factor"'s Melanie Amaro.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Volkswagen
Two commercials in one, really. The first is a rejoinder to anyone who has already given up their New Year's resolution to lose weight (and there are many Super Bowl partiers this weekend in that category!). The second is a clever reminder of last year's Volkswagen commercial.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Chevy Silverado
Apple's classic Macintosh ad predicted 1984 would not be like "1984." But what if 2012 turns out like "2012"? Here we see a Hollywood-sized apocalypse and its effects on a certain truck.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Chevy Volt
"Hybrid" means a joining of two different things, like a car that uses both batteries and gasoline. Some consumers may feel like the aliens in this ad, if not the harried homeowner.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Cadillac ATS
"Green Hell" is the German track where cars are put through their paces, like this Cadillac ATS.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Coca-Cola
We'll be lucky if the actual Super Bowl has a reception as thrilling as the one this polar bear makes with a Coke bottle in "Catch."
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Chevy Sonic
They say not to attempt the stunts filmed for this commercial - darn, I was so looking forward to pushing a car out of a Hercules C-130.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
PSA: Gun control
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino have filmed a gun-control commercial that will air during the Super Bowl. The ad will be shown in the Northeast, not nationally. It shows the two mayors sitting on a couch as if they're watching the game. They're wearing Giants and Patriots jerseys over their shirts and ties.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
CareerBuilder.com
With all the concern about jobs and hiring, job seekers should at least be thankful they're not hired by THESE, uhm, guys.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Lexus
Is that a new "Dark Knight Rises" trailer? No, but you're forgiven being mistaken, given the drum-roll of this car roll-out.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Toyota Camry
If necessity if the mother of invention, perhaps the need for a funny Super Bowl ad is the mother of "re-invention"? Check out this example advertising a "reinvented" Camry.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
GoDaddy.com
What would a Super Bowl be without a GoDaddy.com commercial featuring scantily-clad females? Alas, the dream in this ad could use some more dust from Mr. Sandman.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Pepsi MAX
See, it IS all the media's fault - a Coke driver just wants to buy a competitor's product and Regis goes and spoils it all.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Hyundai
Whoever said "This is impossible" never saw "Rocky." But these carmaker employees did.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Camaro
Zack Borst's winning entry in Chevrolet's Route66 competition, features a college grad getting way too excited.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Doritos
A fan-made ad submitted to Doritos' Crash the Super Bowl contest. Funny, but that's little consolation to cat lovers.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Cars.com
That little voice in the back of your head when you're shopping for a car might not be IN your head.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Budweiser
Like Budweiser's other ad, "Prohibition," which showed jubilation throughout the land when the Clydesdales were brought out of drydock, "Eternal Optimism" shows the decades zip by in a blur of different musical and dance styles, from swing, rock and disco to hip hop and techno - all joined together by bubbly brew.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Metlife
It's not just Peanuts: This ad for Metlife insurance contains a cast of characters that no doubt brought many billable hours to the lawyers at Hanna-Barbera, Warner Brothers, Harvey Comics, et al., to clear their participation.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Fiat
What the heck is an "Abarth," you ask? It's almost beside the point with this ad.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Samsung
Who wants to stand on an iLine when you can have Samsung's mobile device right now?
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Chrysler
The Super Bowl's big halftime commercial was this tribute to Detroit. The raspy voice of experience - Clint Eastwood - means that he knows what he speaks of when he talks about "Halftime in America."
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
Oikos Yogurt
Dannon's ad for Greek yogurt demonstrates a move against John Stamos that, had it happened on the field, would probably earn a yellow flag.
Super Bowl XLVI Commercials
"The Avengers"
Before we had a teaser of a teaser of this Summer's Marvel comic book superheroes actioner. Now we have the ACTUAL teaser, with Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson.