Rating the Super Bowl Commercials (2nd Half)

It’s Super Bowl time (on NBC), and advertisers pay very, very steeply to wave their wares in front of 100 million viewers.

Who enlisted A-list talent? (And who shopped a bargain with B-listers and below?) Who went for laughs? Who tugged at heartstrings? And who whipped out the always-reliable S-E-X?

Here is our quick take on the commercials from the 2nd Half of Super Bowl XLVI. (Refresh for updates.) Sound off on your favorites in Comments!

Super Bowl Commercials, 1st Quarter: Vampire Killers, Elton John
Goes to Court, the New M&M and an Apocalypse-Surviving Chevy

Super Bowl Commercials, 2nd Quarter: Darth Vader Strikes Back,
Bare David Beckham, Luscious Adriana Lima, Kid Pees in Pool and More

Smash | Have we mentioned that TVLine is “blurbed” in the new promos? They used the word “perfect” from my review, so in essence, I was in the Super Bowl, Mom!

Fiat 500 Abarth | Geeky guy is approached, chatted up and then basically seduced by an Italian beauty — complete with dripped cappuccino foam on her [spoiler] — ‘cept he’s really ogling at a Fiat parked nearby.

Pepsi Max | Old joke: Coke delivery guy caught buying the rival’s drink, this time when Regis Philbin (“I’m back!”) shows up to hand him an award.

Coca-Cola | … and then there’s the fact that polar bears probably don’t even drink carbonated beverages.

Oikos Greek Yogurt | John Stamos (who’s Greek!) teases a gal one time too many with a spoonful of Oikos, so she levels him. Charm only gets you so far, Uncle Jesse.

Acura NSX | Jerry Seinfeld, in a desperate bid to land first in line to get an NSX, bribes guy with Soup Nazi visit, an E.T., the last living Munchkin, and, finally, with access to his private NYC zipline circuit. Alas, just as the deal is done, Jay Leno shows up to steal Sein’s prime spot. “Leno!”

Toyota Camry | Not satisfied with reinventing the Camry, Toyota goes on to reinvent babies (non-pooping and time-traveling!), DMVs (that now serve ice cream!) and more.

Budweiser, “Eternal Optimism” | This latest warm-fuzzy spot traverses through several eras and great moments in history, including the end of WWII and the first moon landing.

Honda CR-V | The worst-kept secret of this year’s Super Bowl ad crop, Matthew Broderick makes like Ferris Bueller and fibs his way into a “day off,” tooling around in his Honda. Cute, Gen X-targeted concept, but desperately lacking wink-winky cameos. Does no one have Mia Sara’s phone number?

MetLife, “Everyone” | In a charmer that probably involved at least two dozen lawyers, cartoon characters from the Peanuts gang to Scooby-Doo and Friends to Richie Rich illustrate how MetLife’s packages are for not just a chosen few but everyone.

Bud Light, “Rescue Dog” | This cute spot has its heart in the right place — centered around a rescue dog and touting a dog-rescue org at the end — though we feel a bit sad for Wego at the very end. Poor beer-fetching pup looks pooped!

Kia: Optima, “A Dream Car. For Real Life.” | Utilizing Adriana Lima not nearly as effectively as Teleflora and heaping on a mish-mash of other talent and loud music only adds up to clutter versus any convincing reason to forget that this is an ad for a Kia.

CareerBuilder.com, “Business Trip” | This time, the guy who works with a bunch of real monkeys needs to accompany them to New York, where the gang goes literally bananas. The latest installment in a series featuring an effective metaphor.

GoDaddy.com, “The Cloud” | Danica Patrick, yet again trying to straddle the line between classy and, well, not, this time makes her pitch to a couple of slackers who can only wonder, “Is this Heaven?” Dudes, if it was, she wouldn’t be the most modestly dressed of all GoDaddy spokeswomen.

More to come….