Among Super Bowl ads, these scored big

WHO WON last night?

Besides the New York Giants, it was the deep-pocketed advertisers who paid big buck$ - to the tune of $2.7 million for a 30-second spot - for airtime at one of the last remaining mondo TV viewing parties left in the post-millennium, fragmented media universe.

Heck, Procter & Gamble, corporate advertisers who spend nearly $8 billion annually in global advertising, bought its first ever - ever - Super Bowl ad for its Tide brand. (The Tide to Go stain remover.)

The Cincinnati-based corporation bought two previous spots, for Charmin toilet paper in 2004 and the Gillette Fusion men's shaver in 2006.

If you want people to talk about products, then you advertise on the Super Bowl - a day to watch commercials. And today, their ads, maybe even some of their products, are being discussed in an office, shop or gathering place near you.

In the 2008 world of hundreds of cable channels, on-demand viewing and the Internet, it is a rare occurrence, like the the Super Bowl or the Oscars, that can capture so many peepers in one event.

And let's face it, the Super Bowl was the "Super Bowl of Must-See TV," with some 90 million people expected to watch the game.

The stars and animatronics came out to entertain, from pigeons, LL Cool J, Richard Simmons, Justin Timberlake, a human mouse, Underdog, a Victoria's Secret model and, thankfully, Charlie Brown.

Among the highlights:

* Don't mess with Audi. Grade: A- for its tribute to a classic movie and its ironic casting; the carmaker's ad lifts from the famous "The Godfather" bedroom scene where a gray-haired movie mogul wakes up in his silk pajamas to find himself covered in blood, his beloved horse's head at his feet.

In Audi's take on the iconic scene, a gray-haired man wakes up covered in . . . black? When the man, played by actor Alex Rocco, better known as "Moe Greene" in the original "The Godfather," uncovers his blankets, he's horrified to discover the front section of his vehicle. The black substance is revealed to be grease. Tagline: Audi and the R8 are here.

* Most efficient take on "American Idol" - Doritos chips; Grade: B+ for the Norah Jones-esque song. Doritos has found a less- painful, more merit-based method to showcase unknown musicians who appear to have talent in its "Crash the Super Bowl" contest. The snack company asked people to vote online for one of three finalist acts. The winner, singer/songwriter Kina Grannis, of Mission Viejo, Calif., was revealed in a 30-second spot, singing her ditty "Message From the Heart."

Besides exposure to gazillions around the globe, Grannis, a recent University of Southern California grad, has a contract with Interscope Records. Tagline: "She's made it this far. The rest is up to you."

* Philly Connection - "Leatherheads" movie trailer; Grade: B+ for use of an iconic voice. OK, another movie ad, boooring. Ahhh, but this one stars two dreamy actors, George Clooney and John Krasinski (from "The Office").

Better. Oh, wait, who cares about that? Is that Phillies announcer Harry Kalas in the ad's voiceover? The movie has creed.

* Ballsiest commercial - GoDaddy.com; Grade: A- for urging viewers to turn to their computer for a commercial rejected by Fox. GoDaddy.com acknowledges a dark moment in Super Bowl and NFL history in this commercial set at a Super Bowl viewing party. Dougie, at the computer, refuses to watch the mega-event, telling pals, "I used to watch for the commercials." His bud chuckles, "Thank you, wardrobe malfunction," referring to the fiasco of the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake duet in 2004.

Seconds later, Dougie says Danica Patrick's "exposure" commercial is on GoDaddy.com, an ad "you won't see on TV." Party guests flock to the computer, then a tag appears alerting viewers to visit the site and see the spot. Tagline: "See Danica Patrick's Exposure ONLY on GoDaddy.com. Viewer Discretion Advised."

* LOL commercial, Part I - Coca-Cola; Grade: A for using cartoon characters in human ways. It's Thanksgiving Day in New York City with Underdog and Stewie ("Family Guy") balloons chugging down Fifth Avenue. When a Coke balloon appears, the two characters turn vicious in their pursuit of the cola. (Anyone notice how angry their faces turned?) The bottle leaves their midst, drifting away into an abyss of Manhattan buildings.

Then, what a surprise to see the loser of all losers, the sweetest, most dumped upon cartoon character ever to be drawn, Charlie Brown, emerge from the sea of buildings to grab what he's deserved all along. Justice.

* LOL commercial, Part II - Doritos; Grade A+ for using a catchy li'ltune, the "Toreador Song," from the Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen."

A well-tailored man methodically cuts a sliver of a Doritos chip and places said sliver in a mousetrap, which he situates outside a tiny enclave. He sits and waits in front of the hole where, presumably, an itty bitty mouse lives the high life. The man with the slicked-back hair takes a fistful of chips and, as he puts them in his mouth, a mouse (actually a human dressed as a mouse) flies through the wall and overcomes his tormentor, or in this case, the toreador.

Bizet's aria juxtaposed with an out-of-left field attack and the graphic sounds of a pummeling, makes "Mousetrap" an LOLer. Tagline: Doritos. *