The Super Bowl is the biggest TV event of the year, and while plenty of people watch for the game, there are just as many who watch for the commercials.

This year was the most watched season in the NFL's history, and the Super Bowl is predicted to have the largest television audience of a U.S. program ever. It's because of this that companies are not hesitant to pay upwards of $2.5 million for a 30-second commercial because the sheer number of viewers of the game more than makes up for that price.

The excitement for this year's game and its accompanying commercials has already reached a fever pitch; a commercial for the Volkswagen Passat featuring a child dressed as famous film character Darth Vader has already surpassed 10 million hits on YouTube and has been called the greatest Super Bowl ad of all-time. But let's take a look back at some other notable commercials from Super Bowls past.

Budweiser, Respect

Super Bowl XXXVI between the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots was played in February 2002, in the shadow of the September 11 attacks. Budweiser paid tribute to the events of that day with this iconic commercial featuring the company's famous Clydesdales going across the Brooklyn Bridge and kneeling to honor those lost on that day.

Tabasco, Mosquito

Super Bowl XXXII between the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos was famous for two things: John Elway capturing his first Super Bowl title after coming up short in three previous apperances in the big game and this Tabasco ad. In the ad, a man eats a slice of pizza on a hot summer night; he douses the slice with Tabasco sauce until a mosquito lands on his leg and proceeds to bite him. The mosquito flies away and explodes while the man looks on impressed by the hot sauce's power.

Budweister, Frogs

Budweiser previously showed their advertising acumen in 1995 during Super Bowl XXIX between the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers. The game itself was a blowout, but Budweiser's frogs became one of the most memorable commercials ever.

McDonald's, The Showdown

Super Bowl XXVII was another boring game: the Dallas Cowboys trounced the Buffalo Bills 52-17, but McDonald's scored the best commercial of the night for this one featuring basketball legends Larry Bird and Michael Jordan having a shooting contest to see who buys lunch.

Apple, 1984

Filmmaker Ridley Scott directed this Apple commercial for the Macintosh computer that promised a revolution as for as personal computing went.

Coca-Cola, Mean Joe Greene

If not the most famous commercial of all time then certainly the most famous Super Bowl one, Coca-Cola's ad during Super Bowl XXIV featuring Pittsburgh Steelers legend Mean Joe Greene was one of the first Super Bowl commercials to start the phenomena of the ads overshadowing the game. It's been the subject of countless parodies and advertising agencies have long tried to recreate the its impact to no avail.

Enjoy the game, and the commercials on Sunday. Drop by our comments section to tell us some of your favorite Super Bowl TV spots.


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