While I don´t usually pay much attention to the game, I love the Superbowl for its commercials, and I´m not the only one. The Superbowl is advertising´s biggest event of the year, with millions of American viewers tuning in with high expectations for entertainment and advertising innovation. Every brand tries to grab its 30 seconds of the spotlight and make the best impression. A great superbowl commercial can boost a company´s popularity immensely, and a bad one turns out to be a waste of 3.5 million bucks.

I´m rating the commercials as usual based on tone, strategy, persuasive appeals, and message, but this year I´m adding a new element: social media. It seems to me that nearly every advertisement made these days should encourage the public to add to the conversation, and I´m interested to see which of these top American brands can churn out a great ad that appreciates social media.

1. Coca Cola

I know its a common pick, but Coca Cola produced two beautiful and funny ads doing the best job involving the online community–so much so that their server overloaded during the game! The twitter hastag #gamedaypolar bears got a lot of RT, and the Coca Cola website, facebook page, and twitter page offered more cute and cuddly polar bear content, with the bears reacting in real time to the game´s happenings.

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CueNjgmG8UM”%5D

2. Honda

Honda advertised for its CRV with celebrity spokesperson Matthew Broderick doing a recreation of Ferris Bueller´s Day, playing himself and once again faking an illness to have a little fun driving in his CRV. The ad cleverly pays homage to the movie, recreating scenes that viewers were encouraged to spot and report back. For its Acura NSX, Honda showed a very funny commercial with celebrity, Jerry Seinfeld, trying to be the first owner of the new car. It´s twitter hastag #JerryNSX got a lot of mentions on twitter, and the ads twist ending makes it very memorable. “Leno….”

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOL22euixuA”%5D

3. Huluplus

Even though this ad didn´t have any social media integration in its tv spot, I just love it. Hulu did some great branding, with funny guy Will Arnett touring the “Huluboratory”, an underground complex where engineers deviously scheme to make the perfect cocktail of TV content to hypnotise the American brain all “with a sprig of mint”. They also did a nice job incorporating quotes from some popular TV shows like South Park. Very entertaining and memorable.

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=radsOm7_e58″%5D

4. The Voice

Also lacking in a social media call, but so clever and fantastic I´ve gotta write about it. In the style of Mortal Kombat, the Voice´s 5 celebrity judges fight a kung fu battle, or “Vocal Kombat”, to find an amazing talent. They kick and fly their way across a hotel to find the source of a beautiful voice they hear singing from a shower. Cristina Aguilera breaks down the door of a hotel room to find none other than our favorite Golden Girl, 90-year-old Betty White in a bathrobe, who reacts to the break-in the with the cheeky confidence that only Betty White can muster.

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvzIfrsViWg”%5D

5. Toyota

Between its “Reinvention” and “Connections” spots, Connections was my personal favorite. It was well-written, sentimental, diverse, and American. With millions of Toyota drivers in the US, every one of us has a story to tell. I got so excited, anticipating a social media call, but the brand instead drives traffic to its website, and sweepstakes promotion. When I later followed up to read CamryEffect on twitter, I was disappointed to find its tweets blocked from the public view. Maybe they can work out the kinks for Superbowl 47.

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N406PJKJ_rM”%5D

Well, that´s my take on it, but what about you? Do you think there was enough social media integration in the ads? Which was your favorite? Comment below to give your feedback.