INSIDE EDITION's has USA Today's Ad Meter top ten Super Bowl XLIV commercials, and the funny ads were the most popular. But a Late Show promo featuring David Letterman, O
They're sometimes shocking, but always entertaining!
Here are this year's top ten best Super Bowl commercials, as chosen by USA Today's Ad Meter focus groups:
The fiddle-playing beaver in a spot for Monster.com got high marks, as did the eco-friendly ad by automaker Audi.
The message is...funny sells!
"The ads that tend to win on the Ad Meter are big, funny commercials with jokes," Adweek media critic Barbara Lippert tells INSIDE EDITION.
Coca-Cola scored a big-time hit with their sleepwalker spot, and Budweiser was back with three ads placing in the top ten!
And nothing comes between a dog and his Doritos...the Doritos ad featuring a clever canine and a bark collar came in at number two in the USA Today poll!
Other top ads included the E-Trade baby and a Bridgestone tires ad featuring a killer whale.
So which Super Bowl ad was the biggest hit?
It's the hilarious Snickers commercial featuring octogenarians Betty White and Abe Vigoda taking a hit for the team.
Also causing buzz is the Late Show spot featuring David Letterman, Oprah...and none other than Jay Leno!
After weeks of bitter feuding, the late night talk show hosts gave America a totally unexpected surprise with their Super Bowl ad.
"It was so unexpected, it just snuck in there among all the beer and the car ads, no one expected to see the three of them together!" said Lippert.
The ad was Letterman's idea, and getting everyone together, in complete secrecy so it wouldn't ruin the surprise, was quite an operation.
The ad was filmed on February 2nd at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, where Letterman tapes his show.
Oprah flew in from Chicago and Leno flew in from Los Angeles, using the NBC corporate jet, surprising because it's an ad for Letterman's show on CBS. To avoid being recognized at the studio, Leno wore a disguise...a hooded sweatshirt, glasses, and a fake mustache.
Leno and Oprah snuck into the Ed Sullivan Theater through a small side door right under the marquee. They waited in a "secret" green room until Letterman finished taping his show, then the three TV giants got together to shoot the commercial.
Despite their feuding, Letterman and Leno greeted each other warmly and then filmed the commercial in less than 30 minutes.
When they were done, they had 15 seconds of TV magic. Then Leno left the way he came in, still wearing his fake mustache.
Conan O'Brien was also invited to be a part of the spot, but his producer said "he had too much going on to consider it."
