At AdSavvy we’ve come to the conclusion that one of the 10 biggest events of the year is the release of the SuperBowl Commercials for that year. We even think it should be considered an entirely separate event from the Super Bowl. Because really, it’s a cultural phenomenon.

The day after the SuperBowl each year, all of the top searches on Google are people looking for this or that superbowl commercial. The most popular videos on YouTube end up being superbowl commercial videos. More people talk about their favorite super bowl commercial at work the next day then they do about the SuperBowl itself.

It will be no different in 2011. Long after people remember the game, people will still be talking about the commercials.

This year, AdSavvy will be posting every single 2011 SuperBowl commercial on our site. We will also be providing analysis and our votes for the best Super Bowl commercials of 2011.

A few years back we did a fun little feature titled The 25 Sexiest Banned Commercials of All Time and we regularly feature sexy ads on the site.

Last week we saw the following article make the rounds on the Internet: 12 Ads that Prove Sex Still Sells. And it got us thinking… does anyone really need proof that sex sells?

Back in August, Sam Katz, the incumbent mayor of Winnepeg accidentally kicked a teen in the head during a charity soccer match between some adult city workers and a team of kids from the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. The video went viral and achieved semifame on the internet among Canadians. Now a clip from that video has shown up in a hilarious mock ad supposedly paid for by an unknown group called “FOPATKITFOC” or, “the Friends of People Against the Kicking in the Face of Children.” Nice.

Robert Mackey at the New York Times blog calls it the “mock Canadian attack ad of the year”.
Check out the original video of the facekick, complete with audio:

The best part… the announcer’s commentary: “Oh! He’s booted him in the face in an election year!”

In the Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode “Paddy’s Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens”, the gang tries to come up with various marketable products in an attempt to build the Paddy’s Pub brand.

Frank comes up with a gun that shoots alcohol directly into your mouth, Mac comes up with the dick-towel (http://www.dicktowel.com/), and Charlie comes up with the now world-famous ‘Kitten Mittons’. An excellent episode about advertising and marketing. Best episode yet. Check out the complete, uncensored Dick Towel video after the jump:

Also, if you’re interested in making your own pair of kitten “mittons”, check out this post on instructables.com:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Kitten-Mittons/

When I was a kid, there was this freaky weirdo in my class who used to wipe his nose on his sleeve. We used to call him names like “greensleeves” and “slimer” and “asshole”. Little did we know that he was using the “proper” method of sneezing and coughing. Boy, do I feel stupid now. I bet he invented this thing.

http://www.mysneezee.com/

I would imagine that after attaching such a strange contraption to your face while on a plane, one would actually find it more difficult to nap, mostly because of the uncomfortable mumblings from your fellow passengers and all the painful taserings from federal air marshals.

http://www.snazzynapper.com/

This is the new McDonald’s commercial that’s generating all the interest online. It’s called “Come As You Are”.

In it, a teenage boy sits in a McDonald’s, wistfully looking at his class picture and caressing it with his finger while talking to the obvious object of his affection on the phone. As his father approaches, he quickly hangs up and then listens to his dad tell him how much of a ladies’ man he was at his son’s age. The eventual reveal is that the son goes to an all boys school, so the object of his affection on the other end of the phone was another boy. That’s a twist ending worthy of M. Night Shyamalan.

It’s pretty bold of McDonald’s to air such an ad. The question is, is it really necessary? Did French homosexuals previously feel uncomfortable in McDonald’s? Either way, score one for MickeyDees for scooping up the huge teenage homosexual market in France.

The French website Yagg.com interviewed the brand director of McDonald’s France, Nathalie Legarlantezec, and got this explanation:

“We wanted to take a look at how French society is today. We’re very comfortable with the topic of homosexuality, there is obviously no problem with homosexuality in France today”. While the statement sounds a bit naive in a country where same sex couples cannot legally marry nor adopt, the idea was to give a positive image of the brand: “The point was not to show someone who is troubled, especially a teenager. We know it can be difficult for some people, but we wouldn’t have dared show someone who is struggling”.

The Problem: Budweiser’s sales were down 9% last year and are down another 9% this year. The brand’s been losing customer loyalty consistently over the past 5-10 years, as can be seen in their ranking among national product brands – which slipped from 16th in 2003 to 220th in 2010.

The Reason: The major beer drinking age demographic, 21-34 year olds, consists of ironic hipsters and testosterone-challenged “progressives” who are switching to microbrews, wine, and abominations like Smirnoff Ice in droves. In fact, microbreweries specifically have more than doubled their production since 2004.

What Budweiser is doing about it: Good advertising…

The beauty of this ad is in it’s simplicity, and in the fact that it embraces a sense of masculinity that has been absent in most advertising, and is definitely absent in the apparent tastes of most 21-34 year olds. Plus, aesthetically, it’s just a good commercial. It gets me excited about the weekend, makes me want to go get a six pack of Bud.

There are no gimmicks or forced humor, in fact there’s no talking at all, just rousing music and rapid fire shots of baseball, concerts, girlflesh, grilled meat, and swimming pools; and Budweiser between each shot. Plus there is a tiny touch of patriotism there at the end, which is another possible faux pas when you’re trying to appeal to the 21-34 year old self-hating American progressive.

Bud is semi-unfashionable, just like being pro-America is semi-unfashionable. But Budweiser embraces it, because America is cool, concerts are cool, and baseball games are cool – especially when badass fighter jets fly over the stadium while you’re drinking beer.

A few years ago, president of Anheuser-Busch, August Busch IV, said:
First, while beer is America’s favorite beverage with 58 percent of overall alcohol servings, we must continue to improve the image and desirability of beer. Second, we must keep beer fun and social. Third, we must grow beer occasions. And fourth, we must continue to improve our retail execution.”.

Based on purely anecdotal evidence, and our professional opinion, there is no question as to this year’s most effective commercial and the overall winner of the Super Bowl ad wars. Not only was this Doritos commercial the best of the bunch, but the overall best group of advertisements goes to Doritos hands down. They were witty and fun and creative and just plain viral.

Check out the other Doritos commercials below.

So what’s going to distinguish the 2010 Super Bowl commercials from previous years? You want to know the truth? Nothing. They will still focus on cute little babies, animals and humor. There might be some very subtle sexual innuendo.

Marketers know human nature. They know what moves people. And the 2010 Super Bowl ads will pretty much follow the same formula – hopefully with some added twists. Perhaps the real news will be whether America still approves of Tim Tebow when all is said and done.

Stay posted… Super Bowl Commercial videos to be posted below.