The Super Bowl might not be everybody’s idea of cricket – or football, for that matter. But irrespective of your sport of fancy, it’s kind of difficult not to get drawn into the buzz of it all.

It’s like the soccer World Cup, Ryder Cup and The Ashes all condensed into one intense evening of action. Everybody gets hooked.

But even if you couldn’t give two-monkeys whether the Packers or the Steelers emerged victorious, a kind of sub-event has emerged whenever the Super Bowl comes calling – namely, the advertising.

It’s perhaps the most coveted advertising spot on the television calendar, with thirty seconds of airtime exchanging hands for three million fat ones. For that sort of money, businesses really, really need to plan their strategy to get as much bang for their Super Bowl advertising buck.

So as the dust settles on another Super Bowl, here’s a guide to which adverts hit the sweet spot and which ones caused us to squirm.

Three of the best…

Volkswagen

Everyone will have their favourite ad from the 2011 Super Bowl, but this Volkswagen one is a goodie. Volkswagen taps into everyone’s inner geek with its mini Darth Vader, fifteen million views and counting…

Best Buy

If in doubt, put one of the most popular teen sensations in an advert with one of the most notorious. Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne come together to promote Best Buy – an unlikely pairing, but it works because of that. And this one was creating  a buzz before it even aired:

Chrysler

Everything about this oozes cool. Eminem is one of the top commercial music artists today, stick him in a Chrysler and this is what you get:

Three to make you squirm…

Nobody likes to be a party-pooper, but not all the Super Bowl ads were great. And here’s a few companies that could’ve spent their $3m+ a little more wisely…

Groupon

If 2010 was the year Groupon became an internet powerhouse, rejecting a reported $6b takeover from Google, 2011 hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts if its Super Bowl ad is anything to go by.

“The people of Tibet are in trouble, their very culture in jeopardy”, says actor Timothy Hutton, referencing China’s refusal to accept the territory’s claim to autonomy. This sombre tone is quickly broken by a more upbeat pitch stating that Tibetans can at least still “whip up a great fish curry”.  Without dwelling too much more on this ad, Groupon trivialising Tibet’s plight ruffled more than a few feathers. Not a good idea.

Doritos

Okay, this one hardly offends a downtrodden nation as Groupon managed, but it is a little…nasty. If you want to see a man lick Doritos’ cheese residue of another man’s fingers, then this’ll do it for you:

HomeAway.com

A nice enough advert, but it wasn’t exactly clear what was being promoted. It does have a very explicit image of a baby being fired face-first into a pane of glass though. Make of that what you will…but one of the less inspiring ads of the 2011 Super Bowl: